Betrayal By Moonlight
by eldarsevenstar
Summary: What happens when the last person, or turtle, you would ever think capable of betraying his family, tries to kill them all? What will his brothers do? Will they chose to save one another and kill their own brother, or is there some way he can be saved?
1. A Warning

**Okay, so I know that I probably shouldn't start another story while I'm still keeping you guys in suspense with Ultimate Resolution, but I couldn't resist! I just had to get these ideas out. Hopefully the description is better in this than it isin UR. Anyway, I hope you guys like this!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles...only the plot. All characters belong to Mirage Studios. (runs off crying)**

**Betrayal by Moonlight**

**Italics:**Dream sequences

_**A Warning**_

_The entire room was ablaze. Tingling orange flames snapped around his body, scorching his green skin, sending shivers down his spine. Surprisingly enough, the burning was not painful. He was completely numb to the pain…the physical pain at least; the emotional pain of the horror before his eyes was damaging enough to destroy him from the inside out. "Guys…get out…NOW!" His strength was quickly leaving him; his voice sounded so strained and hoarse._

"_We're not…leaving you…" a voice coughed through shuddering breaths._

_Where was the voice?_

_All of the figures were shrouded in the hazy gray smoke. Only a few seconds ago he could see them all so clearly. He squeezed his eyes shut and re-opened them in an effort to clear them._

_There his brothers lay, right before his eyes. They were broken, battered, injured…bleeding. Who had done this? How dare they attack his family! Wait…something was seeping around his leg…his leg was regaining its feeling. He struggled on the ground. He was lying plastron down on the hot stone floor. With a few grunts, he was able to adjust his body to position himself on his right elbow, head turned back towards the left. Why couldn't he pick his right leg up? He squinted his eyes to see what was pinning his leg down. After his eyes adjusted, they widened in horror. A sai. Raphael's sai to be exact._

_The silver blades had been pierced into his right calf muscle, points protruding into the floor, pinning his leg down. The reflection of the devilish flames danced around wildly on its silver blades, the red wrapping on the handle unraveling with three strands draping loosely over top of his bloodied leg._

_He snapped his head back to look at his brothers. One was being helped to his feet by another. Raphael was the closest to him and as he made eye-contact with his brother, he noticed shimmering tears streaming down Raphael's face. Raph coughed and began talking. To his frustration, the trapped turtle couldn't hear his brother. But why? Why would Raph do this? _

_He lay there on the stone floor, shaking his head in disbelief. Without thinking, he hoisted himself up on both hands, staring at Raphael, trying to decipher the words leaving his mouth._

_Without warning, Raphael's voice broke through whatever barrier that had blocked its way. The voice was…gasping, sobbing. "I'm so sorry! I didn't…I didn't mean to! I didn't want to! Please forgive me! Don't give up! Please Leo, DON'T GIVE UP! We're not leaving without you! Leo please, if you c…" _

_All sounds were cut off once again. All he could see was his brother's mouth moving and the silver streaks running down his bruised face. Who was this Leo? Why did it sound so familiar? Wait…was that…his name?_

_Out of nowhere, a bright flash sent sharp pains through his aching mind; he clenched his eyes closed as beads of sweat rolled down his bare head, soaking his bandanna until it was midnight azure. Flashes…memories enveloped in a fine mist clouded his vision. He saw himself, then his brothers, then…no… The turtle squeezed his eyes shut so tightly, his face began to shake. He saw himself. He saw himself dancing in a battle ready stance, katanas gliding overhead; he was fighting. No…it couldn't be! That would mean that…_

"_Raph, Donnie, Mikey! NOOO!" The shrill scream pierced through the night before all went dark and everything was devoured by the destructive flames._

"NOOO!" Leo screamed as he bolted upright. His eyes were still shut and he was shaking violently.

"Leo!" Who was that voice? What did they want? "Leo! C'mon bro! Calm down!" Whoever the voice was, it had its hands firmly gripping his shoulders and was maneuvering him to lie back down. "Leo. Leo! C'mon! Concentrate on my voice. Open your eyes!"

Whoever the voice was, Leo felt he could trust him. His voice, at the least, coaxed him into a timid state of relaxation. He slowly opened his eyes and to his relief, saw Raphael in front of him. He was about to calm down when he noticed that Raph was tightly gripping his shoulders. When Raph removed his left hand, Leo jumped. Surprised by his brother's initial reaction, Raph slouched back and sat on the foot of Leo's bed, left eye ridge raised. "What was all that about?"

Leo raised himself up into a sitting position, legs still stretched out beneath his covers. He asked confusedly, "Raph?"

Raph crossed his legs, propping his left hand on one knee and his right elbow on another. "No," he grunted, rather annoyed, "it's the great and powerful OZ here to grant the orange one some courage, the purple one a heart, and you a dang brain."

Leo huffed a bit but smiled sadly as he lowered his eyes from Raph's eye contact.

Raph's harsh expression softened and he spoke in a voice full of concern. "Are you ok bro? It ain't like you ta have bad dreams like that." He hesitated and winced. "It ain't like ya ta jump away from me either."

Leo's body involuntarily tensed up. "Raph, I…" His voice cracked and he immediately cleared his throat, looking up directly into his brother's eyes. Smiling and with a renewed voice full of confidence and amusement, he declared, "It was just a dream Raph. A crazy little dream that has no relevance whatsoever." Leo waved the matter off with is left hand and smiled reassuringly at his brother.

Raph looked unsure at first but the spoke up. "Ya sure?"

Leo opened his mouth to speak, when he heard something shatter and saw Mikey zoom past his bedroom doorway in a pair of red jet-propulsion roller blades. Leo cocked his head to the left side and raised his right eye ridge as he gazed out his bedroom door. "Wouldn't those be your blades?" He joked mockingly.

Raph snapped his head in the direction of the doorway. "What!" Raph jumped off the blue covered bed and raced to the doorway, skidding to a halt once he reached it. He looked back at Leo over his left shoulder. "Ya know Leo, if ya need me, well," he looked down and then back into his brother's eyes, "I'm here."

Leo smiled and nodded. "I know Raph."

Raph once again appeared unsure. "Ya sure you're…"

"I'm ok Raph." Leo interrupted. When Raph still held concern in his features, Leo simply smiled. "Really. I'm ok." He saw Mikey zoom by his doorway once again, this time being chased down by Donnie while Master Splinter continually tried to reprimand his over exerted son. Leo smirked. "Better get those things back before they undergo one of Mikey's famous crash landings."

Raph winked and gave Leo a thumbs up before running into the common room to join in the pursuit of the stolen roller blades.

Leo laughed a bit and shook his head amusingly. It was only a dream. Just a dumb harmless nightmare.

Leo got out of bed and walked over to his black marbled top dresser. He didn't have anything inside it except for a few books, personal writings, extra straps and sheaths, and a few extra blue bandannas. On top of the dresser was a black rack adorned with silver Japanese designs, upon which his beloved katanas rested. Behind the dresser was a large mirror.

Smiling, Leo gently glided his hands over his formidable weapons. He removed them from the rack and put them in their rightful place alongside his back.

"It was only a dream;" he told himself, "just a bad, weird dream." He turned to leave when something caught his eye.

Flames danced across the bottom of his mirror and Leo gasped, taking a few steps back in shock. While gazing into the mirror, his eyes widened in immense shock and anger as he saw the Shredder's form approach him. Leo grabbed his katanas and whipped around, preparing to decapitate the intruder in one fierce swipe, but, to his surprise, there was no one behind him. Confused, Leo turned back to the mirror only to see his own reflection. Leo did a double take and checked his room and the mirror once more. "Weird." He sheathed his katanas and started walking towards the door. "But it was only a dream."

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind went through the turtle's room, stopping him dead in his tracks as his bandanna tails flew in front of him from behind. Cold chills rippled down his green flesh. "Wasn't it?"

(TBC)


	2. Slamming Doors

**18 reviews! Yes! I'm am one very happy authoress right now! (wish I could answer you guys...oh well) Thanks to Dory's Human Replica, Chibi Rose Angel, Dreema Azalei Wingblade, Pi90katana, Dona Tello625, The Sacred Heart 2, Reluctant Dragon, Leo Oneal, longing for leo, Jessiy Landroz, BubblyShell22, Becca T, Lunar-ninja, taintedelusions, Digmon Girl, pacphys, Cynlee, and somellamafreak. Thank you all so much!**

**Disclaimer: (sighs) I have to do this again? Fine, I don't own anything but the plot. Characters belong to Mirage Studios.**

**Italics:**Dream sequences

_**Slamming Doors**_

"Again my sons!" Splinter tapped his walking stick on the ground to emphasize his point. He was answered by three groans.

"Aww c'mon Master Splinter!" Mikey plopped down onto the cold floor.

"Can't we take a break?" Donnie leaned heavily against his bo staff.

"We've been at this all mornin'!" Raph crouched down and panted for air.

Leo lowered his katanas so their tips were mere inches from the floor. He bowed his head and stared down at the ground intensely, not saying a word.

"You were late for practice this morning and you must make up for that lost time. Now," Splinter tapped his stick on the floor once more, "again."

Mikey looked up at the old rat with pleading eyes. "C'mon sensei! Why should me and Don have to be punished because Leo and Raph were late?" Raph growled, reached over, and snapped Mikey's bandanna tails. "OW! Hey Raph! Why did…" Mikey was cut off as Splinter smacked his youngest in the back of the head with his trusty walking stick. "OWW! Sensei! What's the deal? What did _I _do?"

"Cease your complaining Michelangelo! You have been late for the last _four_ practice sessions."

Raphael snickered and earned a glare from his Master, causing him to go wide eyed and gulp.

"And as for you Raphael," Splinter smacked his stick into the back of Raph's head, "do not pick on your brothers. No snapping bandanna tails."

"Owww." Raph muttered and rubbed the back of his head.

"Now," Splinter rested his paws on top of his cane, "if all of you are quite done with your complaining we will get back to practice. I wish to see the first kata I showed you this morning. Leonardo."

When Leo didn't take his place in front of his family to perform the task, Splinter turned around and looked at his son. "Leonardo?"

Leo still didn't look up; he kept his gaze fixated on the ground. Raph and Donnie looked at one another and then back at Leo with confusion written all over their faces. Mikey crept towards Leo and waved his green hand in front of his face. "Yoohooo…anyone home?"

When Mikey still didn't earn a response, he lowered himself so he could look into his brother's face. "Leo?"

_What was this? Why was he here again? "These dreams are getting worse and worse." Leo recognized this place. It was the same room from the nightmare last night…well, this morning, except this time, he was walking around; he wasn't pinned down to the floor._

"_What the shell is going on?" Leo kept walking around the empty room. Frustrated, he put his fists on his hips. "Ok, what's the deal? There's nothing here. Before there was fire, smoke, my brothers. Where the…" Leo was abruptly cut off._

_The room seemed to go hazy and black and gray smoke filled the air. Flames burst out from nowhere, this time hotter than before. The color was more of a glowing red this time than orange. Leo quickly crouched down on the stone floor, trying to keep his head out of the fumes. All the smoke was starting to burn his lungs and, as a result, sent Leo into a violent coughing fit. His eyes burned and he could barely see. Staying low to the ground, he crawled around on the floor, trying to find a way out._

_Just when he was about to give up, his hand landed in something hot and sticky. Leo sat down on his haunches for a moment and lifted his hand to his nose, not daring to open his eyes. The smell sickened him and made his stomach drop into a bottomless pit. "Please don't let it be," Leo cautiously opened his eyes and then squinted in disgust, "blood." The thick crimson sludge covered the palm of his right hand as globs dripped off and splattered on the ground. Leo sighed and looked around for the source of this mess. What he saw gave him the shock of a lifetime. He followed the pool of blood to its owner and the site made his eyes go wide as he fell back on to his rear end in shock. His throat tightened up and he shook his head in bewilderment. "Wh-wh-wha-what the SHELL!" The last word of Leo's statement echoed through the entire room four times over again. _

"Leo?"_ What? Who was it this time?_

_The entire room became fuzzy and everything went black._

Leo's eyes started to re-adjust and instead of seeing a darkened room he saw Mikey's confused face literally three inches away from his.

"Yo…Leeeeoooo?" Mikey's eyes were wide. His face resembling that of a child's; full of confusion and curiosity. Mikey lifted his finger and poked Leo in his beak, while holding his other finger up towards the sky. In a cracked voice, that closely resembled Stitch's voice off of 'Disney's Lilo and Stitch,' Mikey continued his persistent exercise to get his brother to snap out of whatever trance he was in. "Leonardo…phone hoooome. Phone home Leo. Do you remember home?"

Leo's eyes squinted into slits as he raised his hand and thumped Mikey in his nose. "Does that answer your question lamebrain?"

"AHH!" Mikey fell back onto his rear end. "Dude," he squeaked while rubbing his beak, "give a turtle some warning bro. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Leo smiled lightheartedly and extended a helpful hand to Mikey to help him up. After Mikey was back on his feet, Splinter stepped forward. "Leonardo, what is the meaning of this?" Splinter's tail swished back and forth along the floor, the old rat looking less than amused.

Leo's eyes saddened. "I'm sorry, sensei…but I…"

"No excuses Leonardo." Splinter held up his paw and reprimanded his son. "You have been late for practice the past two mornings and today you have obviously proven that you have not been focused. I am _very_ disappointed. This is extremely unlike you Leonardo. Getting up tardy, not paying attention, not putting your heart and soul into your practice…" Splinter suddenly stopped his scolding and looked at his son.

Leo's head was bent down in shame, and out of respect, he had not even attempted to defend himself. Splinter's hard glare softened and he looked sympathetically towards his son. It was true that Splinter had been very agitated lately, why he was, he was not certain. He had a feeling gnawing away in his stomach that something was wrong; that his family was in danger, yet Splinter could not discover why or how.

Splinter walked over to Leo and rested both paws on the turtle's shoulder. "My son, what has been troubling you?" The old Master could feel his son tense at the very mention of the fact something had been bothering him. "Leonardo, please forgive my harsh tongue. I am sorry for speaking to you in such a manner."

Leo kept his head down low and bowed down to his sensei. "No sensei. I deserved it. It is I who am sorry. I'll do better. Forgive me for my inappropriate behavior today Master Splinter."

Splinter sighed, out of all his sons, Leonardo was always the quickest to place the blame on someone, and that someone always turned out to be himself. Guilt immediately welled up in Splinter's stomach. "Perhaps that is enough training for now. We will resume tonight in a sparring session." Splinter released his eldest and looked at him sorrowfully one last time before retreating to his room.

Leo straightened himself up and sheathed his katanas.

Raph smirked and crossed his arms, speaking in a gruff but mocking tone. "Well, well, well. Splinter Jr. finally messed up. Who'da thunk it? Mr. Perfect actually managed to do somethin' wrong and tick Master Splinter off. Welcome ta reality bro."

Leo shot Raph a menacing glare and made his way back into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Raph uncrossed his arms and shrugged, startled by the events, eyes showing confusion.

Don crossed his arms and looked at Raph sternly. "Way to go."

Raph looked offended. "What?"

"You know what." Don glowered at his red-clad brother.

"Uhhh…no I don't. What'd I do!"

Mikey rubbed his chin and looked deep in thought as he stared at the ceiling. "Number one, you shouldn't have called him Splinter Jr. Number two, you definitely shouldn't have called him Mr. Perfect, and number three…" Mikey hesitated and looked dumbstruck. He bent over to Donnie, lifted his hand to cover his mouth as if he were telling top secret information, and whispered, "What's number three?"

Donnie's gaze on Raphael hardened. "Number three is you shouldn't have provoked him. He feels like he has enough expectations to live up to without you hounding him all the time about some mistake he's made or how he's such a suck up. Just lay off for once." Donnie stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

Raph looked after Donnie bewildered. "Geez. I didn't know he'd have a hissy fit. It ain't like I meant ta tick Leo off! I was just jokin'!"

Mikey stared at his brother, not angry, but a bit sad. "That's the thing Raph. You weren't joking, but you tried to play it off like you were."

Raph huffed and crossed his arms offensively. "Ain't my fault Leo thinks he's so dang perfect."

Mikey's eyes angered. "He doesn't think he's perfect. He thinks he's anything but perfect. Geez Raph, why do you have to be such a hot head!" Mikey ran into his room and slammed the door…opened it and re-slammed it…opened it again and re-slammed it.

After a few seconds went by of nothing but the sound of a continuously slamming door, Raph finally held the door in place and asked, rather annoyed, "What the heck are you doin'?"

Mikey looked at Raph innocently. "Well, everyone else was slamming their doors."

Raph shook his head. "But ya ain't mad."

"Not really, even though I do think you should lay off Leo."

Raph huffed loudly. "Shell fer brains."

Mikey glared. "At least I'm not an ignorant hothead."

"Ha! Mikey used a big word. Ahhh scary." Raph jokingly held his hands out in front of him.

Mikey's face hardened. "Now I'm mad. I'm not an idiot you know." Once again, Mikey slammed the door, this time, right in Raph's face, which earned Raph a slight punch in the nose from the door.

Raph rubbed his nose and growled. As Raph passed Leo's door, he threw his arms up in the air and yelled. "Thank you Leonardo! Once again everyone is on your side! The world has been put right again!" Raph jogged over to his room and, not surprisingly, slammed the door behind him.

(TBC)

**C'mon guys! Don't give up on me now! REVIEW PLEEEEAAAASE!**


	3. Analysis’s and Theme Songs

sigh...well...it's of no surprise that we're not allowed to answer reviews anymore...so...I want to hand out a big thank you to **pacphys, Chibi Rose Angel, Pi90katana, BubblyShell22, Sassyblondexoxo, Lunar-ninja, AngelWarrior74,Dreema Azaleia Wingblade, Reluctant Dragon, Dona Tello625, Jessiy Landroz, somellamafreak, leo oneal, taintedelusions, blueraven, Becca T, Cynlee**

17 reviews for last chapter, not too bad...please don't hesitate to review again...PLEASE

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own any characters...just the plot. You hear me! Mirage owns everything except my sick twisted ideas! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! (slams her head on the desk)**

_**Analysis's and Theme Songs**_

Splinter's POV

It has been a very uneasy and nerve wracking day. Our home is far too quiet this evening. Each of my sons has been angered by one another today and each has secluded themselves in their rooms after the excessive slamming of doors this morning. I fear that whatever anxiety I feel about this _unknown _danger that is lurking about is also affecting my sons. Though I am not sure if any of them know that something is wrong, their personalities have changed for the worse.

Leonardo is secluding himself from his brothers…and myself. Whether he realizes it or not, he becomes more distant with each passing day. I do not know what is troubling him, but I do know that he rarely sleeps and eats in small proportions. It is also surprisingly apparent that he is gradually losing his focus and is constantly looking…"out of it," as my sons would say. He is distracted by something that is of dire importance. I can only hope that he will come to me soon.

Raphael is more…agitated and angry that usual. Although he attempts to lighten the mood by telling jokes, they are usually at his brothers' expense and they are somewhat less that amused. Something is troubling Raphael as well; I can sense it. Perhaps he is worried about Leonardo. Raphael rarely shows his feelings but it is obvious he loves his family and would do anything for his brothers. I'm nearly positive in my assumptions that Raphael's behavior is due to his impatience and worry for his brother. He and Leonardo were late for practice this morning…I'm sure that must have something to do with it. I will question them about it after the sparring session tonight,

Donatello is quickly losing his patience and passive nature. He continues to lose his temper far more quickly and spends his time working with exercise equipment; punching the punching bag, lifting weights…attacking equipment in the dojo. Donatello is usually so passive. I am worried. He has always been able to keep his temper. Now he rarely works on his inventions or reads his books. He has also become rather protective over Leonardo, becoming angry whenever Raphael accuses Leonardo of something or will not "lay off." Yet, my son still proves to act as a mediator between my sons during an argument.

Michelangelo is quickly losing his innocent, playful nature. He still attempts to make his jokes, but, like Donatello, he is becoming easily agitated. Whereas before this week he had been spending time with his brothers, now he is either watching the television or secluding himself in his room to read his comic books. Also like Donatello, Michelangelo has also sought out to defend Leonardo if he feels Leonardo will not defend himself.

Life proves to be ironic. My son Leonardo spends his life protecting his brothers, myself, and the humans of this city. My three other sons are now resorting to defending their protector against one another. While each of my sons would die to protect one another, I feel that the reason behind Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo's recent actions is based upon guilt. I will meditate on this idea further, but as for now, our sparring session is about to begin. My sons have spent the entire day to themselves. I can only hope matters will turn for the better soon.

* * *

Splinter slowly sauntered out of his room, quietly closing the door behind him. He scanned the area, gazing into an empty space; the lair was dead quiet. No one had emerged from their rooms all day. The eerie silence sent goose bumps down the rat's fur as he made his way to his sons' bedrooms. Leonardo's was the closest.

Splinter gently tapped on the door. "Leonardo? Our sparring session is about to begin."

No answer.

"Leonardo? Are you there?"

When Splinter, again, received no answer, he pressed his furry ear against the door. After a few seconds, the old rat's delicate ears picked up on heavy breathing and soft grunting, followed by something shattering on the ground.

Splinter jumped back with concerned eyes. "Leonardo!" Immediately, the old Master grabbed the handle and swung open the door. What he saw baffled him and resulted in him standing still in the middle of his son's room, walking stick raised, ready to attack an intruder, while his face was wrinkled in confusion.

Splinter noticed a broken lamp beside his son's bed, but Leonardo was standing at the foot of his bed, hunched over and facing the wall. He held his katanas in his hands, perpendicular to his waist; he was holding them so tightly he was shaking.

Splinter's keen eyes squinted in worry as he stretched out a wayward paw. "My son?"

Without warning, Leo's head jerked up and he stopped shaking. His hands loosened their grip and his katanas slowly fell, making a dull clang on the hard stone floor, sending a rippling echo throughout the lair.

Splinter recoiled a bit before reaching out for his son again. "My son?"

Leo turned sideways to Splinter, eyes closed. "Ohhh." He shook his head and rubbed his bald top with his left hand. "Man." Leo stopped abruptly and opened his eyes, turning his head in the direction of his sensei. "Master Splinter?"

Splinter took a step forward. "My son. Are you alright? What happened here? I thought there was an intruder."

Leo furrowed his brow and then shifted his gaze to the shattered lamp. Relaxing his face a little, he smiled and looked back towards his sensei. "I must have just had a bad dream sensei. I guess I must have knocked the lamp over when I jumped out of bed."

Splinter looked at his son questioningly. "But…you sounded and looked as if you were readying yourself to attack, and you were out of breath."

Leo recoiled a bit before answering. "Sometimes dreams can have a weird effect on you." Attempting to change the subject, he changed the tone of his voice so it was excited and rushed. "So, is it time for sparring? I'll go get the others." Leo quickly walked past his Master. "Thanks for letting me know sensei." Leo ran out of his room and out into the common area.

Splinter stared after his son, worry and doubt written all over his face. He sighed before he slowly walked out and made his way to the dojo.

Leo hesitated once he reached Raph's door. Sighing, he knocked twice. "Raph? Master Splinter's waiting in the dojo for the sparring session." Without giving his brother a chance to respond, Leo ran over to Don's door and knocked twice. "Don? Sparring session."

Don opened his door and wiped his eyes. "Ok. Let me get my bo staff."

Leo's eye ridges furrowed. "You ok bro?"

Don yawned and spoke soft and slow. "Yeah. I just fell asleep. You want me to get Raph and Mikey?"

Leo shot Don a small smile. "Nah. It's ok. I told Raph already and I'll go get Mikey."

Don nodded, grabbed his bo staff, and made his way to the dojo.

Leo made his way to Mikey's door and didn't bother knocking. As soon as Leo reached the doorway, he heard humming; humming that sounded like a mix of 'Indiana Jones' and 'Star Wars.' Leo chuckled to himself and opened the door slightly, peering inside.

There Mikey was, bed sheet tied around his shoulders, foot propped up on a box while he was standing on his bed, hands on his hips. A fan in his room was positioned directly on him so his "cape" billowed in the wind.

It was all Leo could do to not bust out laughing. He tightly clamed his hand around his mouth as he listened to his brother continue to hum.

Mikey jumped around on his bed for a few seconds before somersaulting in the air and landing softly on the floor, right arm outstretched to the sky and head bend back. "DundundunDUN! Beware evil doers for I am the…TURTLE TITAN! Defender of the helpless. Kicking bad dude's butts every night in a city near _you_!" No sooner did he finish his speech did he start humming again.

Leo snickered and opened the door. He crossed his arms and leaned his right side against the door frame, smiling. "Since when do you have your own theme song?"

"AHHH!" Mikey's girlish scream pierced through the air as he fell back onto his bed. He quickly untied the sheet, stood up, and brushed himself off.

Leo snickered and cocked his head. "Catchy tune."

"Haha." Mikey retorted sarcastically. He snatched up his nunchaku and faced Leo at the door. "Time for practice?"

Leo nodded.

Mikey walked past him but stopped and turned around. "You ok bro?"

Leo looked surprised. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Mikey shrugged before continuing. "You've been acting kinda weird lately, and I don't think it's just because of bad dreams. Something's bothering you and you're not telling us."

Leo winced slightly before Mikey sighed and continued. "I'm not saying you gotta tell us everything Leo. Just know that you're not alone." Mikey put an arm around his older brother.

Leo smiled. "I know;" he hesitated before laughing and adding, "oh great and revered Turtle Titan." Leo bowed down with his arms outstretched.

Mikey snickered and lightly punched his brother in the arm. "You bet I'm revered! I am, after all the…" Mikey bent down and flexed his arm muscles, "dundundunDUN! Battle Nexus Champion!"

Leo punched his younger brother in the arm softly. "Only by a technicality. So," he said, poking Mikey in the nose, "keep that in mind. Then again," Leo put Mikey in a headlock, "if you care to prove it then let's go. That sparring session is calling your name."

Mikey gulped and followed Leo into the dojo.

Shortly thereafter, Raph emerged from his room and laughed, shaking his head. "Turtle Titan. Pssh, yeah right." He walked towards the dojo and put his sais in his belt.

(TBC)

**Ok, so...just because I can't answer reviews doesn't mean I don't want to get them...sooo...PLEASE take a few seconds to review!**


	4. Losing Control

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything but the plot…all characters are owned by Mirage Studios! sobs

**Yes! You guys rock do you know that! Thanks so much to Tewii, taintedelusions, y, Cassie, LadyKatana45, Dory's human replica, Chibi Rose Angel, saver-otter, Sewer Slider, Dreema Azaleia Wingblade, Pi90katana, Dona Tello625, BubblyShell22, Becca T, XXXElektraXXX, blueraven, leo oneal, Jessiy Landroz, pacphys, and Lunar-Ninja! Sorry it took so long for an update...classes are crazy this year! Please enjoy!**

**Italics:**Dream sequences

_**Losing Control**_

Raph walked into the dojo and took a spot in between Mikey and Don. Leo was on the other side of Mikey.

Master Splinter stepped out of the shadows in front of his sons and tapped his walking stick once on the ground, paws resting on top of the slender wooden top. "My sons. Prepare yourselves. Leonardo. Michelangelo. The two of you will spar against one another. Raphael. Donatello. You will, likewise, spar with one another. The victor of each match will spar with the other and the victor of that match will spar against me."

The turtles looked surprised at one another and then back at their Master. Splinter lowered his head and smiled. "I realize that it is only on rare occasions do I take part in sparring sessions, but I would like to test your abilities first hand. Now," Splinter tapped his stick once, "begin."

Leo and Mikey faced one another and bowed as Raph and Donnie did the same. In the blink of an eye, all four turtles were deeply involved with their sparring. Don was deflecting blow after blow with his staff against Raph's sai. Leo, meanwhile, hadn't yet removed his katanas. He was dodging every swing that Mikey threw at him, nunchaku sweeping mere inches from his muscular body.

Mikey panted and continued the onslaught on his older brother. "C'mon Leo! Stand still already!"

Leo had his hands behind his back and dodged every blow with a broad smile. "Well come on _Battle Nexus Champion_, let's see what you can do." Each word that left Leo's mouth dripped with sarcasm.

"Hmph." Mikey scowled and lunged a chuck at Leo's plastron.

Leo's eyes gleamed as he reached out and caught the chuck in mid-air.

Mikey's eyes went wide and he let his guard down. "Huh!"

Leo took advantage of the opportunity, dipping low and sweeping the unsuspecting turtle's legs out from under him with his right leg. Mikey landed on his back with a soft thud, his other pair of nunchaku sliding across the floor. Before he could get up, Leo placed his foot on top of Mikey's plastron and bent down, arms resting on his bent knee with the nunchaku dangling off out of his left hand.

Mikey looked up bewildered at his older brother. "What…how…what did you…how did you do that!"

Leo's smile just grew wider. "I made you tire yourself out."

"Huh?"

Leo removed his foot and helped his brother up. "It takes more energy to swing and miss than to swing and make a hit."

Mikey hit his head with a palm. "Gah! So…you didn't block with your swords 'cause…if you did, it would have made me conserve my energy…but since I kept swinging and missing you, I used up more of it?"

"Basically."

"Duh Michelangelo." Mikey hit himself in the head again.

Meanwhile, Don was still blocking every attack Raph threw at him. He was doing great until Raph lodged Don's bo staff in between two prongs on his sai. Raph quickly twisted the sai hard to the right, prying it out of Don's tight grasp, and flung it to the side. Don immediately crouched down low and swung his leg out, trying to take Raph's legs out from under him. Raph saw the attack and quickly flipped over his brother, but as soon as Raph landed, Don sent out a roundhouse kick right into his plastron. Raphael fell onto his back and lost his left sai in the process. Donnie ran up to his fallen brother, preparing a downward cast kick that would end the spar, when Raph swiftly flipped onto his haunches, grabbed Don's arm, hefted him onto his back and flipped him down onto the floor. While still holding onto one of Don's arms, he put one green foot on the defeated turtle's plastron.

Don panted from the ground. "Perhaps not the most ninja-_esque_ way to go about it."

"Yeah," Raph smiled, "but it's effective. Besides," Raph grunted as he helped his brother to his feet, "for the over-confident ninjas out there, it bruises the ego."

"And the head." Don closed one eye while he rubbed his head slowly.

"Hehe, sorry 'bout that bro." Raph clapped Donnie on the back.

Don looked a bit skeptical at Raph. "You're awfully, for the lack of a better word, chipper tonight."

Raph looked slightly taken aback. "I just had time ta cool down ya know? Besides," Raph smiled devilishly and twirled his sai, "I just love sparring sessions."

Don was about to ask what had changed his foul mood so quickly, when Splinter stepped forward. "Excellent work my sons. Now, Leonardo. Raphael. Rest for five minutes and then your match will begin. Donatello and Michelangelo, you will observe alongside me."

All turtles bowed down to the old rat as Splinter did the same. Mikey walked up to Donnie, as they made their way to a nearby wall to watch the upcoming skirmish, and spoke in a low voice. "Five slices of pizza says there'll be a huge fight after this."

Don shot Mikey a "duh" look. "Newsflash Mikey. There's always a fight after Leo and Raph spar."

"Nope. They usually scream a little and then don't talk to each other for two days."

Don rolled his eyes. "Great, you just corrected yourself. You're a genius."

"True." Mikey scratched the back of his neck before he smiled wryly. "I'll bet you a _whole_ pizza that today they'll be at a standstill."

Don looked surprised at Mikey. "You don't think Leo will win?"

Mikey leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "Raph's got a lot of rage, I mean more than usual. I'm just gonna be ready to break up a fight if it gets out of hand." Mikey looked over to Leo and Raph. "And I think today, there's an excellent chance of that happening."

Don raised an eye ridge while lowering the other and smiled. "You've got yourself a deal. A whole pizza says that Leo will win."

The "businessmen" shook hands and took a place on each side of their Master; Don on the right and Mikey on the left.

Leo and Raph walked to the other side of the wall. Leo glanced to his left to sneak a look at Raphael; he looked so determined, but surprisingly, not angry. Leo turned his head back and stared straight in front of him as they reached the wall. He removed a katana and started to rub the blade with his fingertips. "Nice work back there."

Raph jerked his head up in surprise and stared at his brother.

"I mean, back there with Donnie. You were…resourceful."

Raph cocked his head and spoke in a suspicious voice. "Say what?" He waited a few seconds before continuing, trying to recover from the initial shock. "No lecture about how throwin' him over my shoulder wasn't the _ninja_ thing to do?" Raph smiled a bit sadistically. "More of a wrestlin' move I guess."

Leo didn't look up. "Sometimes the _ninja _thing to do requires doing something…out of line. Most of Ninjitsu is based upon surprise and the unexpected. Looks to me like you did perfectly. I wouldn't have even seen that coming."

Raph's jaw nearly hit the floor. His mouth dropped open and his eyes looked like one light squeeze to his body would send them popping out of his skull. He quickly gained his composure and shook his head, looking skeptically at his brother. "Wait a minute. Back up. Are you…_complimenting_ me? No lecture or nothin'? Just approval and compliments!"

Leo didn't look up, he just nodded.

Raph's body slightly tensed. He looked down at the ground, feeling a tad guilty about his disbelief. "Sorry bro. I just wasn't expectin'…I mean…" He smiled. "Thanks."

Leo looked at him and smiled, then looked back at his gleaming sword. "I guess the world is wrong again."

"Huh?" Raph looked confused.

"This morning, you said that…"

"I didn't mean what I said this morning." Raph quickly interrupted. "I was just…aw c'mon bro. Ya know I like ta shoot my mouth off. I'm sorry I said it."

"I'm sorry too. I really don't give you guys enough credit. I don't tell you how great you're doing. Besides, I guess I've been a little agitated myself lately."

"A little?" Raph mockingly raised his brow.

Leo lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Don't push it. Now, are you ready to have your shell handed to you?"

"Ha! Keep dreamin' bro! Today's the day, I'm tellin' ya! I'm walkin' away from this spar the winner. Ya ain't got a chance this time." Raph smiled and twirled his sais.

"Yeah sure. You keep living in that little fantasy world of yours." Leo held out a hand, motioning to the center of the dojo. "Shall we, hothead?"

Raph graciously extended his arm. "After you, fearless."

Both playfully bowed down and curtsied as they walked to the center of the dojo.

Splinter was sitting on his knees in between Don and Mikey. "Get ready my sons." Leo and Raph bowed to one another. "Begin."

Raph launched the first attack, lunging at Leo with his sais drawn. Leo waited until the very last moment before he drew one katana and blocked both sai. In a swift movement, he drew the other blade and slammed the hilt into the back of Raph's shell; knocking him off balance and making him slide right past Leo. Raph growled and whipped around, tightly gripping his sais. He threw an upper cut which Leo avoided by bending backwards. When Raph's arm was completely outstretched, Leo lifted his knee and forced it into Raph's abdomen. Raph hit the ground breathless, but rolled away quickly before Leo could send down another blow. Raph picked himself up and ran at Leo again, throwing punch after punch. Leo dodged each one and swung his right leg out, knocking Raph onto his side. When Leo recoiled, he ran at Raph. Raph quickly held his balance on his left hand, still sideways, and landed an impressive kick with his right leg to Leo's plastron. The kick hit Leo hard, and he fell back and flipped over so he landed on his plastron. Raph used his balance to launch himself into a crouching position as he threw his sai in Leo's general direction. Leo, still on the ground, raised his katana and blocked the sai from flying past him. The sai fell to the ground, points stabbing into the floor just inches away from his right calf muscle. A gleam in its silver three pronged blades caught Leo's eye. Leo couldn't stop staring. The sai had landed merely two inches away from his calf muscle. As he focused in on the weapon, he swore he saw flames dancing across the reflection. The image triggered something and Leo gruffly jerked away from the sai.

Raph ran over and snatched his weapon out of the ground. He was about to attack Leo, when he saw something shining in Leo's eyes that Raph had never seen before: pure terror. Leo looked at his brother wielding that fiery sai and something snapped. He jumped to his feet and backed away from Raphael, fear shining in his eyes.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light clouded Leo's vision as it sent sharp pains coursing through his nervous system. Leo gripped his katanas and turned away from Raphael, attempting to hide the pain clearly written on his face. This happened every time Leo had one of those weird dreams.

One bolt of pain that felt like fire burned through his mind. "Ah!"

Raph stepped forward. "Bro?"

"My son!" Splinter leapt to his feet.

Leo started shaking his head. "No. Not _now_!" The eerie visions raced through his mind: stone floors, fire, hot, pain, his brothers, a sai, his brothers, himself, Shredder, his brothers, Shredder. "Shredder!" Leo screamed and began shaking.

"Leo!" Raph dropped his sais and ran up behind Leo.

Mikey and Don jumped up. "Leo!"

Splinter jumped in front of his sons, blocking their way. "No my sons! You must not interfere. Remain here." Splinter made his way to his eldest sons.

_Leo opened his eyes. He was here again. This big room. It was empty now, but soon it would be filled with heat, smoke, and fire…evil. Leo crouched down, preparing himself for everything. Sure enough, black smoke filled the air, burning his eyes and lungs. Fire spread throughout the room, this time so hot, some of the dancing flames were white._

_Leo hovered on the ground. Last time, he had seen a pool of blood that led him to a figure. He had snapped out of the dream before he was able to be certain, but he knew now that he needed to find out who or what was lying in that blood. Since he remotely knew where he was going this time, he found the trail of blood fairly easily._

_The followed the crimson muck across the floor until he reached his destination. As he saw the figure lying before him, his eyes went wide as his suspicions were confirmed._

_The pool of blood had been produced by a sai protruding through someone's leg…his leg. The figure that Leo saw bleeding on the floor…was himself._

_Leo sat down, left leg tucked in and right leg stretched out. He stared at himself, lying nearly helpless on the ground. He rested his head on his knee. "I'm going crazy."_

"_No you're not."_

_Leo jerked his head up and stared down at his twin, who was now looking directly at him. Before the real Leo could say anything, the 'dream Leo' spoke up. "You see what you've done?"_

_Leo kept staring._

_The 'dream Leo' became agitated and very angry. "Don't play dumb. Look what you've done to your family! Don't even try to deny it! You did this to them! Take this as a warning. Beware of your surroundings. Don't go out tonight, no matter what, don't go out. If you do, you'll just end up killing them, and you'll wind up like me."_

_Leo was dumbfounded and at a loss for words. "K-k-killing who?" This strange Leo, which was lying on the ground, looked sad and stared out in front of him. Leo followed his gaze and when he saw who he was talking about, it took his breath away. Leo sat there shaking his head slowly. "No…I would never…I'd kill myself off before I'd…"_

_A scratchy voiced called out from the shadows. "You did it." Leo looked in front of him with pain stricken eyes. Raph walked towards him and spoke in a demonically low voice, it resembled the Shredder's. "You did it. Destroyed your own family. You've been seeing flashes of it for the past few nights. It's all your fault. We'll all die by your hands."_

"_No…" Leo trembled. "I…I would…never…"_

"_But you did." Raph motioned towards himself, Mikey and Donnie. "And you will." He smiled evilly before lunging a sai into Leo's right shoulder._

"_Ah!" Leo grabbed onto his shoulder as blood crept through his fingers._

_Raphael started laughing maniacally. His body started twisting out of control, when two silver claws pierced through the top of his left hand._

_Leo gazed up in horror as his brother viciously transformed into the Shredder. Shredder laughed his hoarse evil laugh as he looked down upon Leo. "Poor Leonardo. The very thing you've spent your entire life trying to protect, you will destroy." Shredder began his evil tirade of laughing again, throwing his head and arms back._

_Leo's eyes narrowed in anger. He turned around so his back was to the Shredder. His body tingled he was so furious. "It's not true. You…you…I swear…I'll KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Leo grabbed both katanas and crossed them in front of his head, whipped around, and forcefully uncrossed them, preparing to remove Shredder's head…_

Raph grabbed onto Leo's shoulder. "Leo! Are you ok!"

Leo jerked and whipped around with his swords crossed. He forcefully uncrossed them, preparing to remove Shredder's…RAPH'S HEAD!

Before Leo even knew what had happened, he had made his blow. Raph quickly ducked, but his bandanna wasn't so lucky. The katanas sliced right through them. Raph watched from the ground as his red bandanna tails floated down and softly landed. He picked them up in one hand and looked at his brother…stunned.

Leo dropped his katanas and they clanged together on the floor. "Raph…I…I…"

Raph stood up and backed away from Leo, stumbling around, still stunned. In an instant, anger flared within him. He pointed at his brother accusingly. "What the SHELL is your PROBLEM! You almost took my head off!"

Splinter hadn't made it to his quarreling sons yet; the events had taken place in a matter of seconds. He, Don and Mikey were staring at the scene before them in awe and pure horror.

Leo quickly backed away. "He was right…he was…I…" A tear made its way down his cheek. "I…I'm so sorry Raph. He was right…he was right…" Leo turned around and ran out of the room.

"Leo wait!" Raph ran after him, but by the time he reached the common room, Leo was already gone.

Splinter, Don and Mikey came skidding to a half behind Raph.

Mikey was cradling the blue handled katanas in his arms. He looked at Donne and spoke frantically. "Donnie! Track him!"

"I can't!" Don held out his hand and revealed a shell cell. "He dropped it when he ran out! I _can't _track him!" His voice was nearly as frantic as Mikey's.

Raph spoke up pleadingly. "But he ain't got his swords!"

Splinter spoke in a rush. It was evident that he too was worried. "Go! Take your weapons and your communication devices! Leonardo is not himself. He needs your help."

Before Splinter could say another word, his sons were gone. Splinter, likewise, ran out into the sewers. He would go a separate way than his sons in order to cover more ground. The overwhelming sense that something deadly wrong was about to happen quelled in his stomach once again. He just hoped he could figure out what it was before it was too late.

**Thanks again so much to everyone who reviewed! Now...review again please!**


	5. It Begins

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! Thank you to the two of you who mentioned I made a mistake with Leo's katanas! I can't believe I missed that! I went back and changed the error and now everything should be ok! THANKS AGAIN!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles...I do not own the turtles...(sob) I don't own the turtles! **

**Italics:**Phone conversation

_**It begins**_

He ran through the sewers, water sloshing and splashing everywhere with each rushed step. He was being noisy, something he would never do, especially as a ninja, but right now he didn't care. Who else would be down in the sewers to hear him? His brothers would never catch up to him now. Each of his brothers had their own talents that they excelled at more than the others; Leo's was speed.

He had no idea how long he had been running, or where to for that matter. Leo's eyes were clenched shut, trying to restrain the tears in his watery eyes that were threatening to break through. He didn't even notice himself climbing up a ladder into an alley. From there he ran and kept running. He didn't stop until he reached an old abandoned warehouse on the north side of the city and warily opened his eyes. Cautiously, he stepped inside keeping his body and senses tense and prepared for any unwelcome visitors. Once Leo determined he was alone, he furrowed his brow in anger and frustration. He threw both fists into a concrete wall nearby and screamed to the top of his lungs; a cry of anguish.

Breathing heavily and shakily, Leo slowly slid down the wall onto the floor, turning around so his back could rest on the concrete. He spread his legs apart, bent his knees upward and rested the crook of his arms on top of his kneecaps while lowering his head. He felt lightheaded and a bit dizzy, a fact which didn't surprise him since he had been hyperventilating ever since he left the lair. "I'm losing it. What the shell is wrong with me?"

"You're an idiot, that's what's wrong with you."

Leo kept his head down, not caring to see the face of the one that was speaking to him. "I'm not an idiot. I just…I'm stressed right now. All I'm doing is imagining all of this. This…this is _crazy_."

"Really?" The voice taunted him. The tone was hollow and dry, but Leo knew the voice all too well. "Were you imagining things when you saw your brothers lying nearly dead before your eyes?"

Leo closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Shut up. It was just a dream. A crazy dream!"

"Did it feel like a dream when you felt that sai piercing through your flesh?"

"Shut up."

"Did the hatred you felt towards yourself when you found out it was you who did that to your brothers _feel_ like a dream?"

"Shut…up." Leo's words dripped from his mouth with distain and bitterness. He raised his head in order to see the one provoking him. He saw an image of himself, the 'dream Leo' he had talked with earlier. He had his back to a wall and was staring straight at him.

'Dream Leo' grew angry once again. His voice was full of anger and hatred. "Were you just imagining things when you almost took Raph's head off?"

Leo jumped out of his sitting position. "SHUT UP!" He grabbed three shurikens from his belt and flung them in his accuser's direction.

Were he to be real, he would have been dead in the blink of an eye. However, since he wasn't real, the stars passed right through this 'dream Leo's' chest and embedded themselves in the wall behind him.

Leo's face was twisted in anger. Only on rare occasions did he display such ferocity as this.

'Dream Leo' looked down at his chest, back at the shurikens sticking in the wall and then back at Leo. "I always knew I could have a nasty temper."

Leo was furious. "Do you think this is funny!"

'Dream Leo' looked just as perturbed as Leo now. "No, but obviously you do."

"What are you on about now?"

"I told you not to go out tonight! Did you think I was joking! You know that we're not the comedians of the family. Now you've killed them all."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Leo drew a small tanto from behind his back; luckily he had been keeping this on him since the dreams started, in case of an emergency. "I told you…I'd kill myself before I'd _ever_ hurt them!"

Leo's image started walking towards him. "Then you'd better do it."

Leo looked a bit surprised. He looked down at his tanto, eyes still narrowed in anger, but thoughtful, as if he was actually considering listening to his double.

The twin stopped when he was directly in front of Leo, voice full of determination. "Do it. Do it before you hurt them. Don't even worry about the seppuku rituals. Killing yourself to protect them is honorable enough."

Leo continued to stare into his tanto's blade. "I…don't understand. Why is this happening? I've never lost control. What could possibly happen that would make me at fault for ki…hurting my family?"

The double shook his head. His voice was a bit calmer now but still stern. "You really don't get it do you? When you realized they would die by your hands, I didn't mean in an accident. You yourself will kill them. You will murder them in cold blood." Leo's eyes grew wide in disbelief and fear. The twin continued. "Do you understand now? First you'll take out Mikey, then Donnie and Raph. After they're all dead you'll go home and finish off Master Splinter; and you'll do it all with a smile on your face. In your vision, that sai was in our leg because Raph put it there. He was trying to protect Mikey and Donnie after you attacked them. Those visions were warnings…just like I am. I'm a part of you Leo; the part of you that's always enabled you to excel in meditation and helped you tune your mind into the spiritual plane." He sighed. "You shouldn't have left the lair. I was trying to save us so you wouldn't come here and _she_ wouldn't find us. But it's not over yet. You can still save them. Do it. You have the power to save your family so do it before it's too late."

Leo raised his blade up to eye level and spoke, voice calm and steady. "Maybe I should. If it will save them then…" Leo paused and looked at his likeness doubtfully. "Wait a minute. Before _she_ finds us…before who finds us!"

'Dream Leo' stepped back and furrowed his brow. "I wasn't expecting an interrogation." He spat out accusingly. "What does it matter? It's the only way to save them, so do it before…" His eyes grew wide as he focused on something beyond Leo's vision. He began to tremble. "No…" Without warning, he faded away.

Leo reached forth an arm. "Wait!" Suddenly, the overwhelming sense that he wasn't alone filled his senses. Before he could spin around and look, chills ran down his skin as the realization hit him that he wasn't alone…physically or mentally. In an instant, a surge of electrical energy pulsated through Leo's body. Blue sparks surrounded him as the pain sent him into convulsions.

"Ahh!" Leo screamed and fell down to the ground in a heap. He slowly picked his arms up and tried to pull himself across the floor, but it was no use; his arms were dead weight and felt as if the force of gravity focused all its attention onto them. The sharp pains wouldn't let up and Leo struggled to hold onto consciousness. He gritted his teeth and grunted. "Pain…is only…a physical…state of the mind. I can…beat…" Leo couldn't even finish his sentence as his head dropped and his body surrendered to the pain. Darkness ate away at his vision and the last thing he saw was a figure shrouded in black and a red handled katana blade.

Splinter had no idea just how long he'd been running. All he knew was he had covered every inch of the sewers and had come up with nothing. His legs were aching because of all the intense running; it had been a long while since he had run so hard that his muscles painfully contracted because of it. Exhausted, Splinter stood still in a drainage junction and rested one paw against the cold brick wall. Splinter's face was contorted with frustration, not to mention worry. His thoughts were interrupted when his right pocket started beeping. Splinter reached down and drew out his own shell cell. "Hello?"

No answer.

Splinter pushed a button. "Hello?"

No answer.

Splinter pressed two more keys. "Hello?"

Frustrated, Splinter began pressing every key on the keypad. "How do you answer this confounded thing?"

Meanwhile, Raph, Don and Mikey stood in the shadow of two buildings in an alley on the west side of town. Each of them looked exhausted. Don was holding his shell cell up to his ear. "Master Splinter?" Sighing, he lowered the cell for the third time that night. "Disconnected again."

Mikey leaned his shell against a building with his arms crossed. "Somebody's _gotta _teach sensei how to work that thing."

Raph nodded in agreement as Don put the shell cell away. "What now?"

Raph looked down at his feet.

Mikey stepped away from the wall and held his hands out, stating the obvious. "We've checked the whole city: North, East, South and West…we _had_ to have just missed him."

Don raised a green hand to his chin. "More than likely. Question is where was he? More importantly, where is he now?"

"Man," Mikey rubbed his head, "I always knew Leo was good at hide and seek but this is ridiculous."

Don and Mikey looked at one another and then at Raph. Donnie spoke timidly to his red-banded brother. "We've searched every inch of the city; every alley, every park…where else could he be?"

Mikey held his hands together and looked in Raph's direction. "We've gotta find him. What should we do now Raph?"

Raph stood there for a moment before turning around. He faced the outside world: the cars zooming down the pavement, the humans carrying on with their lives, walking down the sidewalks, completely unaware that they were being watched. The wind whistled as it blew through the alleyway, flicking each turtle's bandanna tails behind their heads. Raph looked up at the midnight sky; it was overcast and no stars were peeking through the dark clouds. He muttered softly in a defeated hollow voice, "I don't know."

Splinter slowly lowered his shell cell, eyeing it evilly. "Useless contraption. It will not even work properly." The old rat was about to continue his search, when he stopped abruptly and took in a shuddering breath. He felt someone's presence. He quickly closed his eyes and concentrated, not moving a muscle and keeping his breathing soft and shallow. Entering his meditative state of mind, he could hear rapid breathing and a voice mumbling.

Without warning, a shaky voice pierced through his heart. "SENSEI!"

Splinter's eyes shot open. "Leonardo!" Breathing heavily, Splinter crouched down on the ground. He closed his eyes and rested a paw on his head. "My son."

After a few seconds, Master Splinter regained control over his breathing and stood back up. He noticed he was still gripping his shell cell in his right paw. He looked over the keypad and saw five red buttons lined up horizontally along the top. Each button had a name starting from left to right: Leo, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Sensei. Splinter squinted his eyes and glowered at the buttons. After scanning over each button for two minutes, Splinter finally pressed the button labeled 'Don' and put the cell against his fuzzy ear.

Don and Mikey stared clueless at the back of Raph's shell. Mikey whispered to Don, "What's up with Raph? He's just standing there. Why doesn't he do something?"

Don looked sadly at Raph. "He's worried, just like we are. We don't know what to do and we don't have a plan...that was always Leo's department." Don bowed his head. "We don't even know where to look. It's like you said Mikey, we're a team and if one of us is gone, it just doesn't work."

Mikey turned wide eyed to Don and pointed at himself. "_I_ said that?"

Don nodded and looked at Mikey. "When I went to that future world of Shredder's, you told me that when I first met up with you. Think of it like this Mikey, each of us has something to offer as a team. You're the athlete, I'm the brain, Raph's the fighter, and Leo's the leader…the warrior."

Mikey stood there for a few seconds with his mouth hanging open. "Whoooooooaaaaaaa. I must be reaaaaaally smart." Suddenly, Mikey stood at attention. "Hey, wait a minute. Wouldn't that make meeeee the brain?" Mikey pointed at himself and smiled cheekily.

Don rolled his eyes. "Dream on." Don reached down and drew up his shell cell again. "Let's try this one more time." He was about to try and call Master Splinter again when the phone started beeping. "Huh?" Don pressed the phone against his head and spoke unknowingly. "Hello?"

"_Donatello?"_

"Master Splinter?" Don's voice was full of surprise. Raph and Mikey whipped around to face their brainy brother.

"_Donatello, where are you? Are you and your brothers alright?"_

"We're fine sensei, but we still haven't found Leo. We've searched the entire city and there's no trace of him! We don't know what to do and…"

"_Yes, I know my son. Calm down. You and your brothers meet me at the north side of the city in the warehouse."_

Don drew his eye ridges together in confusion. "The warehouse? What warehouse? I've never known of a warehouse on the north side."

"_I do not know my son, but I do know your brother is in that building…or was in that building. It is right by the waterside. Move swiftly and take care my son."_

"We will Master Splinter." Don ended the conversation and put his shell cell away.

"Must be the apocalypse. Sensei finally figured out how to work the shell cell." Mikey muttered. He slowly clapped his hands together in applause.

Raph smacked Mikey in the back of the head, which earned him a glare, which in turn, was ignored. "So what'd he say?"

Don looked at both of his brothers. "Something's up. He wants us to meet him at the warehouse on the north side."

Raph held his hands out to his sides and leaned towards Don. "Which warehouse?"

Don looked at Raph surprised. "There's more than one?"

Raph put his hands on his hips. "Duh Don, there's at least two. Geez you needta get out more often and get yer head outta those books and complicated inventions of yours."

"Hmph. Anyway, he said that it was by the waterfront."

"K, I know where that is. Let's get a move on then."

Raph, Don and Mikey switched their places in the alley to the rooftops. They jetted across the towering buildings, running so hard and fast their leg muscles began to ache.

"Are we there yet?" Mikey whined, dragging a good twelve feet behind Raph and Don.

Raph and Donnie both growled, but, surprisingly, Donnie beat Raph to the punch. "Mikey, if you ask that one more time, on my honor as a mutant ninja turtle, I will personally…KICK THE SHELL OUT OF YOU!"

Raph glared back at Mikey and Mikey winced. "Geesh. Touchy, touchy."

Raph grunted and came to a halt. Don and Mikey slid past him but quickly ran back to his side. Raph sighed. "Look, we still got a good ten miles before we reach the north side…or at least that warehouse. Why don't we take a five minute breather and then get back to it? We'll be no good ta Leo if we're too worn out to help."

Don and Mikey nodded and the three ninjas flipped off the building into a dark alley.

When Mikey straightened up from the land, he gazed at his surroundings. He and his brothers were positioned between two dark red brick buildings. The back of the alley was blocked off by another brick wall. There were only a few patches of light, and that was coming from the moon. Wind blew through the alley and the noise from it was hollow and cold. Mikey gulped. "Spoo-ky."

Don rolled his head around and eyed Raph. "I hate to admit it, but Mikey has a point."

"Yup. Gee," Raph chimed, "who woulda guessed it?"

Mikey glared at both of his brothers and Raph and Donnie chucked, but everyone went dead silent when they felt another presence somewhere nearby…a threatening presence. Raph, Don, and Mikey tensed their muscles and readied their weapons for attack. They shifted their eyes and looked around for the 'unwelcome visitor.'

Raph spotted a figure standing in the shadows, but his sense of danger faded away once he pinpointed the 'mystery man's' location. Raph signaled Don and Mikey to put their weapons away and they complied. Raphael looked at the figure. All he could see was his eyes, which were white, and the dark hazy form of his body. The brothers assumed it was just an old man, possibly homeless; after all, why else would he be in a dark alley at this time?

Raph took a step forward. "Uhh, sorry if we scared ya. Don't be afraid. I know we look kinda weird but…uhhhh…" Raph squinted his eyes to look at the figure, who simply stared back at Raph. The red clad turtle cleared his throat and continued. "Well…look, we're lookin' for our brother. You haven't seen another turtle runnin' around here have ya? He wears a blue bandanna and has swords strapped to his back."

The figure never answered, he just kept staring at the ninjas.

Mikey felt uneasy and crept behind Raph. Don took a step in front of Raph and tried to talk to the figure's dark silhouette that sloppily lined his body. "He looks just like us, maybe a little taller. Please, have you seen him?"

The silhouette's eyes narrowed and yet it still said nothing.

Raph and Mikey looked nervously at one another as Don backed away. "Riiiiight. Well, sorry we bothered you. We'll just be, uhhhh," he ran behind Raph and Mikey and pushed them towards a building with a ladder that led to the rooftops, "we'll just be going now."

The three turtles had their hands on the brick wall when the figure spoke. "I know of this Leonardo, or Leo, as you like to call him." Raph, Don, and Mikey whipped their bodies around and listened. "He is not your brother anymore, so I suggest you forget him."

Raph jerked out his sais. "What the heck do you mean he ain't our brother no more!"

Don put a hand on Raph's shoulder. "How did you know his name was Leonardo!"

Mikey pulled out his nunchakus. "And how do you know we call him Leo!"

The silhouette snickered. "Oh Don, Mikey…I know more than that."

Don and Mikey looked at one another in disbelief. Raph stepped in front of them. "How the shell do you know our names!"

"I know more than just your names Raph. I know your strengths, your weaknesses, where you live, your past, your present…" he snarled, "and your future."

Mikey twirled his nunchakus and Don spun his bo staff. Raph was enraged. "Alright you whack bag! How do you know about us and what do you know about Leo!"

The figure muffled his laugh before closing his eyes and gliding out of the shadows and into a patch of moonlight.

The three turtles gasped in surprise. Mikey slipped in front of Don and Raph. "No…way…"

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Now...don't forget to review again! Sorry for the mean cliffie...hehe...TUNE IN NEXT TIME!**


	6. Betrayal

**Disclaimer: **the turtles are not mine, no character is mine, only the plot

_**Betrayal**_

* * *

"_I know more than just your names Raph. I know your strengths, your weaknesses, where you live, your past, your present…" he snarled, "and your future."_

_Mikey twirled his nunchakus and Don spun his bo staff. Raph was enraged. "Alright you whack bag! How do you know about us and what do you know about Leo!"_

_The figure muffled his laugh before closing his eyes and gliding out of the shadows and into a patch of moonlight._

_The three turtles gasped in surprise. Mikey slipped in front of Don and Raph. "No…way…" _

* * *

"No…way…" Mikey stared in disbelief at the figure before him before smiling happily. "You had us really worried! We've been looking everywhere for you Leo!"

Mikey ran up to Leo and was about to embrace his brother in a huge bear hug, when he noticed something was off.

Leo was facing his brothers with his right side turned back slightly, concealing his right forearm. His head was turned a smidge to the right as well, bowed down a little, with his eyes closed, yet, a small smile graced his lips.

Don and Raph ran up to Leo as well, just as eager to see their brother. Don was about to grab hold of Leo when he saw the way Mikey was staring at him. Don also noticed Leo's strange behavior and furrowed his brows in concern. "Leo? You ok?"

"Of course he's ok." Raph clapped Don on the shell. "He's Leo and now he's got that whole thing outta his system. Dontcha?" Raph smiled at his older brother, but when Leo didn't make an effort to reply, or move for that matter, Raph's smile turned upside down in offense. "Hey c'mon bro! We've been worried sick about ya and all you can do is stand there!" When Leo still said nothing, Raph growled. "Hey!" He reached his arm out and grabbed onto Leo's right wrist, pulling it into view. "I'm talkin' ta _you_! Do you have any idea how wor…" Raph stopped and gasped. "W-What?" Raph whispered his voice so low it was nearly inaudible. When Raph looked down at the underside of Leo's forearm, he saw the red and black symbol of the Foot imprinted on his brother's green skin.

In an instant, Leo snapped his eyes open and glared at Raphael. Raph's eyes widened in shock as Leo twisted his own arm, still in Raph's grasp, and clenched onto Raph's wrist. He bent over to the right and in a flash, sent a high left kick into Raph's abdomen, forcing him to release Leo's arm as he flew in-between Don and Mikey from the powerful kick.

Don and Mikey whipped their heads around as they watched Raph fly between them and slide to a halt on the ground behind them. They snapped their heads back towards Leo bewildered, eyes bulging and mouths hanging open.

Leo snickered and cracked his neck, bending it to the left.

Raph lifted his torso off the ground with his hands, but remained sitting on the ground, too shocked to do anything. The only thing Raph, Don, and Mikey's bodies allowed them to do was stare at their older brother in awe, and maybe a little fear.

Leo reached behind his back and drew out two katanas...two red and black handled katanas. He twirled them in each hand, so fast they were nearly a red and silver blur. He slowly moved towards his younger brothers.

Don and Mikey began to slowly edge their bodies backwards. Don's voice was cracked. "L-L-Leo? What are you doing? You look a little on edge right now. Why don't you s-s-s-it down and rest?"

Mikey's voice was squeaky and nervous. "Gee Leo...those swords are looking really good. So shiny and," he gulped and spoke in a high pitched voice, "sharp."

Leo was still spinning the katanas and was nearly directly over top of his brothers when he heard sirens in the background. He growled as he stopped twirling "his" weapons and looked over his left shoulder. He could see the red and blue lights quickly approaching the area from the mouth of the alleyway. A group of about twenty Foot soldiers darted across the opening, heading in the opposite direction, away from the sirens. One Foot Elite followed behind them and stopped at the opening of the alleyway and stared at Leo. Leo squinted his eyes. The Elite nodded and followed the Foot soldiers, as if a decision had just been silently and mutually agreed by them both.

Leo turned his head back towards his brothers and glared down at them, eyes full of hatred. He backed away so his face was covered in the shadows, but the lower half of his body was still showing. The shape of his head could still be seen from the shadows, but his eyes were the only things that were truly visible. "Consider this a warning." His voice was low and gruff. His eyes went into fine slits. "Your first…and _final_ warning." He jabbed his left katana into a trash can on the right and flung it in the air. While air born, he put his left katana away and used his right to slice the trash can in half. The top half rolled towards the three turtles' feet.

Leo had his sword held out to the right side horizontally, blade facing the adjacent wall. "Get the point?"

In the blink of an eye, Leonardo did a backwards flip out of sight and disappeared into the shadows.

Mikey and Don stood there dumbfounded, looking after their elder brother with sad confused eyes. Raph still lay on the ground, puffing for breath with the same sad confusion written on his face, but which was quickly removed when his two brothers turned to look at him.

Mikey's voice was shaky and sounded scared. "Tell me that didn't just happen."

Don stared at the ground. "It…it couldn't have. It's impossible. Leo would never…" He trailed off, clearly at a loss for words.

Raph stood up off the ground and took a few steps forward. He felt afraid, but quickly banished the feeling which was quelling up in his stomach and took on a strong emotionless voice. "We better go. Master Splinter's probably worried. We shoulda been there by now."

Mikey and Don looked at one another and turned back to their brother's retreating back. Mikey jumped in front of Raph and held his hand out and placed in on Raph's plastron, forbidding him to take another step. He spoke frantically. "Wait! We can't just leave him out here! There's…I mean…we don't know…there must be a reason why…"

Raphael shoved Mikey's arm out of his way and kept walking. "He made a choice Mikey." Raph's head was bent down, refusing to make eye contact. His tone was void of any sympathy or emotion. "Now I'm making a choice to go."

"But we…"

"And you have a choice to make too!" Raph twirled around and threw his finger in Mikey's face. "You two can either stay here by yourselves or you can go to Master Splinter, but I ain't wastin' my time here! This whole thing was a waste of time. Do what you want." With that, Raph turned around and headed for the warehouse.

Don crept up behind Mikey and put a hand on his shoulder. Michelangelo's face was full of confusion. He looked like a scared child, lost and all alone. Don felt the same way, but was determined to not let it break through. "Come on Mikey."

Michelangelo stared after Raph. "What did he mean? What did he mean when he said Leo made a choice? He can't really think that…"

"I don't know Mikey. I don't know. But he's right about one thing, we need to meet up with Master Splinter."

Mikey nodded and he and Don took off after Raph.

Splinter paced around the warehouse. He had inspected the entire area; sniffing every smell, hearing every creak, and seeing every shadow.

He stood in the middle of the floor and rested his paws on top of his walking stick, head bent down. He sighed heavily. "He is not here…but he was. Something terrible happened here tonight. My son Leonardo was in terrible pain."

He walked over to a dark dank spot near a wall and crouched down. "There is something terribly wrong. My sons should have been here by now. I hope they are…" Splinter stopped as he picked up on a new smell. He reached for something on the ground when suddenly the doors to the warehouse flew open. Splinter leapt into the shadows, concealing himself with darkness.

Raphael walked through the doors, body hunched over. He looked tired and out of breath. He walked to the center of the warehouse and stopped. His voice was weak and strained. "Sensei?"

Splinter stepped out of the shadows and ran towards his son. "Raphael! Are you alright?"

"I'm…fine sensei."

"Are you sure? Where are your brothers?"

Raphael said nothing; he looked behind him and turned back towards his Master.

Splinter's furry face drew together in concern. Only then did he notice a rather large bruise forming in the center of Raphael's plastron. Splinter extended his right paw towards his second eldest. "My son…you have been injured. What happened?"

Raph's muscles tensed. He lowered his head and turned it to the right. His tone of voice was full of sorrow and disbelief, but the hint of anger was still there. "Leo."

Splinter widened his eyes and motioned to say something, when he was interrupted by his, normally passive, son.

"He means that we _found_ Leo."

Splinter looked to the doorway and saw Donatello approaching, with Michelangelo following close behind.

Raph didn't move; he just tensed up even more and growled. "_No_. I meant that _Leo_ happened. Leo did this."

Don stared sternly at Raph's shell. "Leo didn't…"

"You were there Donnie!" Raph whipped around to face his brother. "You saw what happened!"

Don just stood there and stared his brother down, fuming.

Raph continued and crossed his arms. "If ya ask me Leo's changed sides."

Mikey stepped out from behind Don angrily. "No one asked _you_."

Raph turned to Mikey. "It's obvious Mikey. Look at what he did to me!"

"It's not always about you Raph!"

"Forget that then! Look at what he almost did to you and Donnie!"

"He wouldn't have done anything." Mikey clenched his fists at his sides.

"Use yer brains for once Mikey! He was twirlin' his swords and headin' straight for us back there!" Raph extended his arm and pointed backwards, implying the alleyway. "He could have killed us!"

"But he didn't."

"Only because he was interrupted."

"You don't know that!" Mikey leaned forward, still clenching his fists together.

"Neither do you!"

Mikey backed down a little and Raph continued. "He coulda killed us."

"But he wouldn't." Now Don was clenching his fists at his sides.

Raph looked back and forth between Don and Mikey. "You two are unbelievable. Wake up and face the facts! Leo's runnin' with the Foot now. He's one of them!"

"Stop it Raph." Don leaned forward angrily.

Raph just kept ranting and raving. "I saw that tattoo on his arm! He's workin' for the Shredder!"

Mikey squeezed his eyes shut while anger quelled within him.

Don brought his shaking fists up to his torso. "Raph stop it! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I got sense enough ta know my enemy when I see him!"

Before Raph knew what hit him, he was lying shell flat on the cold hard floor, right hand cupping his jaw as a small trickle of blood leaked out. He looked directly in front of him and saw Don, standing there with his fists curled and ready for attack, but his face was surprised. Ignoring his instincts, he immediately started his accusations. "Geez Donnie! What the shell!"

Don stood there dumbfounded. "I…I didn't. I was going to…but I wasn't quick enough."

Raph looked suspiciously at his braniac of a brother. "Then who…" Heavy breathing diverted Raph's attention to his right side, where he saw Mikey, face hard and angry, fists shaking…a small trail of blood along the knuckles. "Mikey…"

"That's right I hit you." Mikey was panting for breath he was so angry. "I had to do something to knock some sense into you. How could you even think that Leo would join up with Shredder! Are you out of your mind!"

"Look Mikey…"

"No you look. For once in your life just shut up and listen."

Raph lay on the ground in pure awe. Mikey just stood up to him. Mikey just told him off!

Don and Master Splinter were likewise, in awe. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hanging open.

Mikey continued; voice fierce and full of frustration. "How could you even think that Leo would do something like this? After all he's been through! You think he's your enemy! He's not your enemy; he's your brother you jerk! How in your right warped twisted mind could you possibly think that Leo would join up with Shredder after all Shredder has put him through! After all the times Shredder tried to kill him, after all the times Leo protected us from him, after the pledges he made to protect us…WHY would you EVER say that about him! He's our brother! He would never do that! He's the one who's spent his whole life protecting us and being there for us, while we never give him credit for it! How can you even call yourself his brother after accusing him of something like that! I don't care what you say, do, or believe…but I'm telling you now, if you think that Leo would actually join up with the Foot willingly, then you're an idiot. He's our brother and brothers stick together. He's still our big brother and he always will be. There has to be a reason to why he did it, he would never really join them so there has to be a reason. And you should know something…I love you Raph, you're my big brother too and I would do anything for you…but I know Leo. He would never do this, he's a good guy, a great guy, he protects us, he's an honorable warrior…and anyone who calls themselves Leo's enemy automatically becomes my enemy. So say your words carefully from now on."

Raph lay still on the floor, looking into the angry eyes of his baby brother. Never before had he seen him this angry…and he realized now that he never wanted to again. "Mikey…I…"

"Save your breath Raphael. Look, I'm not trying to choose sides here; I don't want to choose between my brothers because in all honesty, I can't. I could never choose between you guys, I love you all, but Raph…think about what you're saying. You could never be my enemy, but Leo could never be my enemy either. Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that you don't trust him anymore? Can you honestly say that you think he's the enemy? Look me in the eye and tell me Raph."

Raph found it increasingly difficult to do anything. He was completely shell shocked; still confused, upset and angry about Leo's betrayal, and now, overly flabbergasted by his youngest brother's actions. He wiped the blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand and whispered, eyes still locked on Mikey. "No."

"No what?"

Raph took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Mikey's eyes were still burning into his. "No…I know that somethin's wrong. I know Leo wouldn't…I just don't understand…Shell Mikey, what happened to him!"

Mikey kneeled down beside Raph and put a hand on his shoulder. "I dunno, but we'll find out."

The two turtles shot each other a small smile, but Mikey's small smile slowly turned into a frown as he peeled his hand off of Raph's shoulder. "Eww Raph! You're all sticky! When's the last time you took a bath?"

Trying to avoid the initial question, since it had been well over a week since his last bath, Raph tried to defend himself. "It ain't my fault you hit me!"

"Yeah it was."

"Well…ok, so I deserved it, but ya didn't have ta hit me over here! Master Splinter was sniffin' around here earlier, some weird smell or somethin'. I probably landed in some oil or grease. I dunno."

Mikey lifted his hand up to his face to get a better look, but his face tensed up in disgust and shock. "Oh…my…" Mikey looked to Raph apologetically. "Gah Raph, I knew I hit you hard but I didn't think it was that hard! I'm sorry!"

Don kneeled down beside Mikey. "What are you talking about?" When Mikey showed Don his hand, Don's eyes went wide and he looked straight at Raph. "Raph! Don't move around a lot! Geez you must have cracked your head wide open!"

"What!" Raph's eyes popped open and his body tensed.

"Didn't I just say don't move!"

"Whaddya mean my head's cracked open! It feels fine."

Mikey extended his hand to Raph, revealing several dark red blood splotches along his palm.

Raph just stared at it confused. "Why's it so dark?"

"Because it's oxygenated." Don explained. "Your blood is really red when it's in your body or right after it's been cut, but when oxygen gets to it, it would get darker."

Mikey looked at Don with sad eyes. "So, why is Raph's so dark? It's not old, it just happened."

"I…don't know." Don confessed and, out of pure chance, glanced behind Raph. His eyes squinted in curiosity and he made his way over behind Raphael. He looked at something lying on the ground intensely before calling out, "Does anyone have a flashlight?"

Raph, Mikey and Splinter all turned their heads in surprise to look at Don.

Don shrugged. "What?"

Raph cocked his head. "You mean ta say you ain't got your little bag of tricks for once?"

"Hey, I was in a hurry ok? Do you have one or not?"

"I don't."

"I am sorry my son." Master Splinter stood standing above his sons. "Is there nothing else you might use?"

Mikey fiddled around his belt for a moment and then pulled out a clear stick with liquid inside.

Don looked over to Mikey with a blank face. "What's that?"

Mikey grinned at Donnie. "It's a glowy stick! You snap it and crinkle it and then it glows green! Isn't it cool!"

Don reached out his hand. "Hand it over."

Mikey clutched onto the stick and drew it back protectively, voice and eyes a bit scared. "But…I just got it!" He whined. "They gave it to me at the comic book store for being one of their best customers! I can't just give it away! It's my trophy!"

Don looked annoyed at Mikey and curled his fingers back and forth, urging Mikey to hand the stick over.

Mikey looked terrified at the stick and then back at Don. "But…"

When Don's eyes went into fine white slits, Mikey looked sadly at his stick and sighed. "Bye, bye trophy." He slowly handed it over to Don, head hanging down in sadness.

Don rolled his head around. He snapped the stick and Mikey cringed at the sound and threw a hand in front of his face. "Oh! The horror!"

Don rolled his eyes and went back over to Raph, holding the illuminating green stick behind Raph. The sight before them made everyone turn their noses up.

Raph was sitting on the edge of a small pool of blood.

Raphael gazed at the burgundy slime in awe and, out of the corner of his eye, noticed a small trail leading to another door on the opposite side of the building. Raph looked back at the pool and followed the trail again. There was something odd about the trail; it wasn't made up of blood droplets, but smudges, as if someone had been dragged.

Mikey looked at Raph worriedly. "Raph…it's all over the place! You should lie down! You're bleeding everywhere!"

Raph put a hand next to the pool and sighed. "No…I'm not."

Don, Mikey and Splinter looked at one another in confusion and then back at Raph.

Master Splinter knelt down beside Raph and placed his paw on his plastron. "What do you mean my son? Michelangelo is right, you should rest. I do not want anything to happen to you."

Raph shook his head. "No, I'm fine…it's…" Raph kept his eyes on that glob of liquid on the ground and repeatedly followed the smears on the floor. "It's…not mine."

(TBC)

**_

* * *

_**So...should I keep this going or quit while I'm ahead? R&R please... 


	7. Confrontation

Wow, sorry it's been so long. Issues with the comp...anyway, BBM is back up and running again! Big thanks to pac for the beta!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the TMNT characters in any way, shape or form...though I wish that I did. All characters belong to Peter Laird and Mirage Studios.

_**Confrontation**_

_Raph shook his head. "No, I'm fine…it's…" Raph kept his eyes on that glob of liquid on the ground and repeatedly followed the smears on the floor. "It's…not mine."_

Don and Splinter eyed one another while Mikey drew closer to Raph. "What do you mean it's not yours bro? I mean, I admit I didn't think I hit ya _that _hard but it could…"

"No Mikey" Raph interrupted. Raph sighed and pointed to the smears that lead out of the building. "Look."

"Huh?" Mikey looked at Raph in confusion and then followed his eyes. When he saw what Raph was pointing to, his stomach dropped. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Is what…" Don tried to ask but was interrupted when Mikey pushed Don's face in the direction of the trail. "Oh…" Don walked over to one of the smudges and knelt down in front of it. He stared at it intently while hovering over it. With a sigh, he shut his eyes for a few seconds and reopened them. "If you're thinking that it's blood…then you'd be right."

Raph looked down at the smears again while Mikey's eyes widened at fear at his intelligent brother. "Then…who's…"

"And if you were thinking that it's Leo's," Don interrupted, "then you'd be right again."

Raph's face hardened as he continued to look at the smudges.

Mikey gulped. "But…how do you know?"

"I…I just know. Something's wrong. I'm willing to bet every single tool I have that whatever happened here is why Leo attacked us back there." Don squeezed his eyes shut and smelled the air. After inhaling twice, his eyes snapped open. He looked into the shadows, directly behind the blood smears. With his, or rather Mikey's, glow stick still in hand, he headed back towards one of the walls. Upon looking at the ground, he saw black scorches on the floor. He placed his free green hand on the black spot and noticed the many branches moving away from it. "That explains it."

Don's statement drew Raph out of his trance. The spaced out turtle looked up at his braniac brother. "Explains what?"

Don kept his glare on the floor. "How they dragged him out of here. Let's face it; not many people could have forcefully dragged Leo out of a room, least of all the Foot. If that's even who attacked him. These marks could have only been made by electricity. This mark was made because of a burn."

Raph stood up and walked over to Donnie, towering over top of him, placing his fists on his hips. "Hold up, hold up. What are you sayin' exactly?"

"I'm saying…that I think someone sent jolts of electricity through Leo's body, knocking him unconscious. Then they dragged him out of here."

Raph removed his fists from his hips. "But then, where'd all the blood come from?"

"I don't know. Maybe they beat him up while he was out…but that still wouldn't explain why he would fight us." Don hesitated and rubbed his chin. Suddenly his head perked up and his eyes opened wide. "Unless…"

Mikey ran over to his two brothers, towering over the both of them. "Unless what? UNLESS WHAT, DONNIE!"

"Chill out, Mikey!" Raph grabbed his younger brother and shook him a bit.

"UNLESS," Don interrupted, "it really is the Foot…and they still have Baxter Stockman on their payroll."

Raph let go of Mikey's shoulders. "I don't get it. What would Stockman…" Raph paused as the reality and severity of the situation hit him like a stone wall. "You think that Stockman has him under some sort of control?"

Don stood up and faced his brother looking unpleasantly peeved. "It wouldn't surprise me."

Mikey clasped his hands together. "But how would he do that? He's not a warlock! How can he just instantly use mind control!"

"He didn't." Don looked at Mikey. "You're right, he's not a warlock, but he is a genius, and a scientist. Just think about all his inventions he's come up with so far. There is no end to the things he could create! What if he made some sort of chip or something and surgically implanted it into Leo. That would explain all of the blood everywhere."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "It would?"

Mikey looked unsure about the whole situation. "Guys…I don't think that Stockman did this. I don't know why but something's just telling me that he's not behind this."

Completely ignoring his brother's observations, Don spoke quickly and bluntly, as if the answer to their problems was so obvious that everyone should have figured it out by now. "Yeah. Do you actually think the Foot would take the time to protect Leo's well being while they were forcing this 'chip' into him? No way! They probably just cut his arm open, put it in his skin, sewed it up and used something to cover up the wound, making us _think_ he really did betray us."

The three turtle's heads jerked up and their eyes went wide. They looked at each other before Raph made an observation. "The tattoo."

"Rather nice, don't you think?" A dark sinister voice called out from the shadows, hiding in the rafters.

The turtle gang and their Master shot their heads up to the ceiling. A dark silhouette could be made out, white eyes glaring down at the onlookers, crouched on his haunches resting on one rafter.

In a flash the shadow flipped down and into the spotlight.

Raph, Don and Mikey all back up a few steps, while Master Splinter stepped forward, paw outstretched, and eyes shaky. "Leonardo?"

Sure enough, Leo raised his head so his face could be seen. "Glad you remember me, Sensei. No doubt your sons have told you the events that have taken place. So, tell me, is this focused enough for you? Are you still _disappointed_ in me?" Leo's voice was angry, actually mocking his sensei.

Splinter winced at the statement. Never would he have thought that his eldest would have turned his teachings against him.

Before he could speak, Leo continued. "Well _rat_, how's this for disappointing?" In a swift movement, Leo did a round house kick, right foot slamming into Splinter's old stomach, sending him sliding on the floor.

"Umph." Splinter grunted as he skidded to a halt on the cold, hard floor.

Raph, Donnie and Mikey all gasped in surprise. They could barely move. Leo just attacked Master Splinter!

Splinter slowly propped himself back up against his walking stick.

Leo removed his right katana from its sheath and slowly made his way over to his father.

Splinter looked up sadly at his son as he neared and outstretched his paw, wavering ever so slightly. His voice was trembling, "My-m-my son?"

Leo towered over the old rat. He drew his sword up to his chest and then quickly flung its blade out to his right side. He frowned hard and lowered his voice. "I am your son no longer."

In a horrifying movement that bewildered the three brothers and their father, Leo crossed his katana back to his left side and prepared to sweep it to the right in one forceful movement, killing his master.

In the split second before the turtle's blade reached his sensei's throat, a loud clang and a three pronged sai blocked its attack.

Leo looked down at the one who interrupted his onslaught. Raphael stood between his elder brother and his father, both hands gripping onto one of his sais. His arms were shaking, appearing as if they were having enormous trouble standing up against Leo's force, while Leo was merely holding onto his weapon with one hand.

Raph cursed inwardly to himself. _"Crud. Since when is Leo stronger than me!"_

Raph shook the thought from his mind and yelled at his brother. "Leo! What the heck are ya doin'? Have you gone mental!"

Leo's glare hardened on Raph, putting more force into his sword and nearly forcing Raph down on his knees.

Don and Mikey snapped out of their trance and ran over to their family, quickly picking up Master Splinter and removing him from the middle of the skirmish. They ran to the far wall, away from where Leo and Raph were currently at a standstill.

Don quickly checked Splinter over. "He's ok. You may have a bruise or two, Sensei, but you'll be fine."

Splinter didn't say a word, but he looked extremely sad. He simply nodded and kept his eyes on the ground.

Mikey looked up at Donnie, fear written all over his face.

Don looked at his father and then to his baby brother. "He'll be ok, Mikey. We better go see if we can help Raph out with Leo."

Mikey nodded and the two brothers ran back to the skirmish.

Meanwhile, Leo was smirking and still forcing Raph down. His voice was smothered in disdain and sarcasm. "What's the matter Raph? Am I too strong for a freak like you?"

Raph gritted his teeth and snarled. "If I'm a freak then that just makes you a bigger one! At least I didn't turn on my own family!"

Leo stopped smiling. "I don't have a family." He stabbed his katana blade in between the sai's prongs and wedged it out of Raph's hands.

Raph quickly removed his other sai but Leo snatched the middle blade and yanked it out of his astonished brother's grip. He put his katana back in its sheath and twirled the sai with his right hand. "At least, I won't have one for much longer. It's kind of ironic isn't it?" Leo twirled Raph's 'baby'. "Slain by the one who spent his entire life protecting you?"

Raph gawked at his brother in awe as Leo lowered the sai down to his waist.

Don and Mikey were nearly at their brothers' sides when Leo whipped around and flung the sai at them. "LOOK OUT!" Don and Mikey screamed together. They pushed one another and split separate ways; just missing the sai that flew in-between them, nearly slicing their heads open and embedding itself in the wall behind them just above Master Splinter's stunned body. Don and Mikey looked at the sai, at each other and at their older brother with nervous faces.

Leo faced Don and Mikey with his head slightly lowered, giving himself an intimidating look. He smirked again. "What's the matter, guys? Aren't you going to give your brother a hug? After all, I did spend my entire life protecting you. Don't you think you could at least give me that?" Leo mockingly opened his arms as if he were expecting to be embraced.

Don's and Mikey's eyes saddened.

Raph, meanwhile, had regained his composure and launched himself at his older brother, hoping to surprise him from behind. Quite to Raph's disappointment however, Leo ducked, grabbing Raph's arms and slung him in Don and Mikey's direction.

Raph landed with a thud at Don and Mikey's feet. He growled and stood up in front of his brothers, fists clenching, teeth grinding together. "What's yer problem, Leo! We're only trying ta help you and whaddya you do! You attack Master Splinter! Then you attack US! Maybe you really have joined up with the Shred-head!"

Leo took two steps back, hiding his face in the shadows once more. His voice was low and monotone. "Show some respect. That _'Shred-head' _is my master and anyone who opposes her will feel the fire of my blades."

With that, Leo vanished into the shadows and used the wall to spring back up into the rafters. Before his brothers could catch up to him, he was already gone into the dark night.

(TBC)


	8. The New Recruit

**Disclaimer: **Wow, it's been a while. I do not own or make money off of the turtles or any other characters associated with them. The only thing I DO own is the plot which developed from my looney imagination. Enjoy.

* * *

_**Italics: **Mental thought_

* * *

Raph growled and lowered his head. "Great…now what?" 

"What can we do?" Mikey spoke up, pleadingly.

"There's got to be something, Mikey." Don sighed. "We just have to think of it…"

Mikey swallowed. "Why…how could this happen?"

"If we knew that, Mikey, we wouldn't be standing here." Raph snapped.

"Don't get mad at me!"

"I'm not mad at you! I'm mad at…at whoever did all this! Wait 'til I get my hands around their necks and—"

"Raphael." Splinter spoke softly.

The three turtles each turned to look at their father, momentarily forgetting he was there considering he hadn't said a word since Leo attacked him.

Splinter rose to his feet as he found his voice again. "I realize your anger, my son…but we cannot afford to be rash in our decisions now." Slowly, he made his way over to his sons.

Don held his hands out. "But where do we even start? If Stockman's not behind this, then who is? Where do we look?"

"Um…guys?" Mikey spoke up timidly. "Did you guys notice what he said?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Leo…when he was talking about the Shredder. He said… 'she'."

Don and Raph looked at one another and frowned. "Do you think?" Don inquired.

Raph sighed and allowed a deep-throated growl to emerge from the back of his throat. "Karai…"

Don looked down and bit his lip. "You know…I could probably rig something up that could track him down, even without his shell cell. Maybe I could…I don't know, tap into the Foot computers or something. Anything that gives off a relatively strong signal."

"Then that shall be our next move, my son." Splinter nodded. "Come, let us return home." When the old rat turned around, he spotted his son already moving towards the exit.

Raph walked away from the group and back to the warehouse opening. He ignored the questioning looks from his brothers and father that he could feel burning into the back of his neck. With another sigh, he rested his right arm against the doorframe and placed his head on his forearm, glancing outside. "Where are ya, Leo…"

* * *

The night air whipped against his flesh and sent chills through his body, though he wasn't sure if the chills were due to the temperature or an aftereffect of his own mind. 

_"Stop it… you've got to stop!" _

"I'm following orders."

"_They're our family!" _

"I don't have a family."

_"Listen to yourself! Don't let her win! You've got to fight this!" _

"Shut up."

"I can't let you do this! We're stronger than this! I was worried at first but… but this is our last chance! We've got to beat it together!"

"There's nothing to beat. Leave me alone."

Leonardo led the way, leaping building after building. Behind him followed a small army of Foot soldiers. An Elite guard ran adjacent to Leo, keeping a watchful eye on him… almost looking as if he served as Leo's own guardian. Usually, he would not speak to anyone but his comrades, certainly not an old enemy, but something about him couldn't resist. "Who are you speaking to?"

Leo glanced over at him and kept running. "No one."

The Elite kept a monotone voice and did the best he could to mask his interest. "I have heard you speak to yourself like this before."

"It's nothing." Leonardo answered quickly.

With a nod, the Elite decided to let the incident slide for now. He eyed the turtle's wounds instead. He had a few cuts along his left side between carapace and plastron, not to mention a long cut on his arm where his new 'tattoo' was. A short, but deep cut could also be seen along the side of his head near his ear hole. The Elite mentally reminded himself that, even as the turtle was waning under the effects of the electric shock, he still fought them until he was unconscious, and yet he remembered nothing. "We are nearly there."

Leo nodded and leapt off the building to another and another, until he was directly in front of Foot Headquarters. The small army of Foot soldiers followed willingly and halted behind Leo. With a glance from Leo, they each disappeared into the night to take on scouting positions. The Elite took his place beside Leo and remained there as they entered Foot Headquarters.

Once inside, Leo and the Elite guard walked calmly to the elevator and rode silently to the top office. The Elite snuck a glance at the turtle every now and then, not quite understanding the change in him. He had been informed of the actions that took place and could understand the reasoning behind it, yet, he couldn't truly believe that the turtle wasn't fighting back, and it would be disrespectful to ask his master. Fearing a punishment, he settled on relying on himself to determine the events taking place. He had been assigned as the turtle's guardian. He was to protect him and fight alongside him. At first, he was angry about the idea. The entire ordeal of fighting with a hated enemy brought dishonor to him. However, this turtle was a skilled fighter and there was nothing he could do to change the assignment. Unlike his comrades, he tended to view all options instead of attacking first. He was a soldier and he followed orders. He gave no more and no less than what was expected of him. If he were ordered to kill the turtle, he would do it without a second thought. If he were ordered to protect the turtle, then he would protect him. A soldier lives for following orders; they are not so lucky as to always have a mind of their own. Common sense and intelligence are maintained, but an order is an order. However, perhaps the assignment would turn out to be more beneficial and interesting than originally thought.

Leo and the Elite made their way to a large door with the infamous red Foot insignia in the middle. The Elite stepped forward and opened the door for Leo with a slight bow of his head. Returning the small bow, Leo walked into the room and took a kneeling position in front of a dark figure at the end of a walkway. Touching his head to the floor, he kept his gaze down in respect. "I am yours to command… Master."

The Elite stayed behind, full well knowing that his master would want to be alone with the turtle. He quietly closed the door and walked down a long corridor, stopping at a large black door halfway down the hall. Slightly hesitant, he entered silently. Once inside, he spotted his three comrades. With a nod from each, the Elite replaced his naginta on the weapons rack with another that had just been sharpened.

The three remaining Elite looked to one another and, finally, the axe wielding Elite spoke up. "And how did things proceed this evening?"

"According to plan." The Elite in question replaced a few missing shuriken on his belt. "This evening was only a trial to see how far the terrapin could be pushed after confronting his family."

"And…"

The Elite hesitated. "The turtle is on our side. He showed little, if any, resistance to his orders. He even went so far as to attack the rat and would have killed him had his brother not stepped in."

The three Elite nodded, seeming pleased with the new information. The spear wielding Elite was the next to speak. "Our Master will be pleased."

"She is speaking with him now. I am to return to my post afterwards."

"To protect him… our enemy."

"He is no longer our enemy, but an ally. If the situation arises the three of you will be expected to protect him as well, and if I should fall, one of you will surely be required to take my place."

"I do not see why Mistress Karai seeks to protect the turtle. We should kill him now while we have the chance."

The axe wielding Elite turned to his comrade. "I believe she wishes to make he and his family suffer. No doubt his family is concerned and is contemplating an attempt to get him back. If the turtle is responsible for the demise of his own family, he will surely go mad and end his own life. Our hands will stay clean and the turtle shall carry out the murders of his own accord."

The Elite wielding the spear turned back to his comrade with the naginta. "He shows no sign of resistance against the control?" Satisfied with a shake of his comrade's head, he fingered his spear. "I never imagined those beings would be so useful."

"Make no mistake," the Elite with the naginta spoke as he headed back for the door. "Those beings controlling him are powerful and are quite dangerous. This terrapin is known for a very strong mind and love for his family. It would take great power to erase those qualities away and replace them with raw hatred."

With a hard glare from his comrades, the Elite wielding the axe spoke again. "It almost sounds as if you respect the creature. Perhaps this protection you are providing is of your own will instead of by order."

The Elite glared back at his three comrades and spoke in a monotone voice. "I do as I am ordered to do, nothing more, nothing less. By Mistress Karai's order, I am to protect the turtle until told otherwise. I have no respect for him; he was a hated enemy and in my mind, is still our enemy until this change in him can be made permanent."

The three Elite blinked and the remaining Elite guard, who bore a trident, spoke questioningly. "She means to make the change permanent?"

"It is theory. The turtle will automatically wish to end his own life after the news of his family's demise, especially considering he shall be the cause of it. His will power will be forever broken. Mistress Karai may be able to use him. We all know he is a skilled warrior and a worthy opponent. Whether it pleases us to admit it or not, he would make a valuable addition to our organization."

The three Elite looked at one another and, after a moment of hesitation, nodded in agreement. With another slight bow of the head to their comrade, the naginta wielding Elite departed from the room and returned to the closed door to wait until his master and the turtle were done.

After a few moments, Leo exited the room and looked toward the Elite. No words were spoken between them, just stares. The Elite took his position behind Leonardo as he walked back down the corridor to a separate black door. He quietly opened it and entered inside, allowing the Elite to follow him.

The room was bare, aside from the numerous weapons scattered along its black walls. There was only one window to the outside world. Against a corner was a meditation mat along with a small silver tray of red and black candles. Leo calmly walked over and took his place upon the mat.

The Elite walked to another corner and sat down on a similar mat. His duties included following the turtle wherever he went. He was to keep an eye on him at all times, especially during times such as this. If the turtle went into meditation, he may remember everything and attempt to break free. However, the turtle never went into meditation since he had been taken in. He merely sat on the mat as he stared blankly at the wall. The silence was usually comfortable for him, but for some odd reason, it became more and more nerve wracking. Only a day had passed and he could already feel his confidence in his abilities diminishing. There was something about this turtle which provided a threatening presence, whether or not he could remember who his true enemies were.

The Elite watched Leo carefully. Tomorrow Leo would train to ensure he still retained all of his fighting skills, and perhaps pick up more. With a slight bow to Leo, he lit his own candle in front of himself and took a lotus position, watching and waiting for anything to happen.

(TBC)


	9. The Decision

**Disclaimer: **The turtles, Splinter/sensei, Karai and the Elite are all property of Mirage Studios. Actually, none of these characters belong to me, if they did, I could afford to buy a better computer in order to write fanfiction. I own the plot and that's pretty much it.

**Italics:**Past memories, mental thought

**The Decision**

The Elite watched as another Foot soldier went flying overhead. He looked back at Leonardo and hid a small smirk under the garment covering his face—the turtle wasn't even tired. The Foot soldiers provided no threat to him and were easy for him to defeat, especially after all the vigorous training the reptile had put himself through over his time there. The Elite could only wonder if such hard training was an after effect of what had happened or if the turtle had naturally trained so much prior to being captured.

Leo threw another pair of Foot soldiers then finished off the rest of the group without even removing his katana. Only slightly out of breath, he turned to the Elite. The Elite observed him with a questioning glance and Leo spoke up gruffly.

"I require a more challenging match."

With a nod, the Elite quietly left the room. Leo proceeded to go through a difficult series of katas until the Elite returned with his three comrades. Leo subtly glared at them and was taken by surprise as an odd scene played out in the back of his mind. His eyes widened slightly.

They had him surrounded. He was too tired. He'd been running too long. These ninja were far too good.

_Leo frantically tried to defend himself against the four Elite that encircled him on the roof. There was never a break in attacks. No matter how hard he tried to defend himself, no matter how many hits he blocked, one of them would land a direct blow._

_Finally, Leo collapsed on the roof, panting for air. He kept his head down and clenched onto his katana, all the while letting hundreds of thoughts race through his mind. _

'_This is it. I can't win. I don't stand a chance. This is how it's really going to end. Raph, Don, Mikey… I'm so sorry. I was supposed to protect... you have to be careful. You have to watch over yourselves. I'm sorry. I failed you. Master Splinter... no. No, I can't just lie here. I have a duty to fulfill. A vow to abide by. Get up! Get up and keep fighting!'_

_Leo forced himself back up and jumped over the Elite guards. In a flash of lightning, he was engulfed in the fight again. The whipping wind forced the rain in his eyes, making his opponents' forms fade into a blur. The wind resistance didn't help the strain on his overworked muscles. He could barely stand. There were too many attacks! He blocked as best he could. He didn't have any chance of seeing the trident aimed directly at him. _

_With a forceful clang, one of the Elite knocked him off balance and sent him plummeting off the building. The last thing in his line of vision was his katana flying away from his grasp. The last thought racing through his mind, being the faces of his family._

The four Elite looked to one another and looked back at the turtle in confusion.

He was frozen, eyes piercing into the wall. Leo's bottom lip trembled slightly and a soft whisper rolled from his lips. "I'm sorry…" His eyes softened and his hands shook slightly.

The four men blinked and looked at one another once again questioningly. The Elite bearing the trident spoke up.

"It appears their control is diminishing."

The Elite wielding the spear nodded and watched the turtle.

"We should inform Mistress Karai. If we are not cautious, he could break free."

"First we must determine what triggered such a powerful reaction."

Leo's new temporary guardian, the Elite with the naginata, watched Leo carefully. "I told you he possessed a strong willed mind." He took a step towards Leo and ignored the curious glares from his three comrades. The soldier wasn't sure what was happening or how to stop it, but he had a reasonable guess of what triggered the turtle's actions. By now, he was directly in front of the turtle. He stared him in the eyes, determined to regain his attention. "Leonardo."

Leo blinked and looked back at the Elite blankly.

The Elite kept eye contact and spoke calmly. "You requested a more challenging match. I believe my comrades can assist you with that."

Leo blinked again, looked back at the three men in their dark robes, then back at the Elite in front of him. His eyes regained their hardness and his shaking immediately ceased. The hard edge returned to his voice. "Yes."

The Elite gave Leo a slight bow and moved back towards the door. He watched as his comrades engaged the turtle in battle. By the way the reptile fought, he would never have guessed that something had been wrong. He observed the spar a bit longer before he disappeared into the corridor and silently walked down to the main doors where he had brought the turtle a week ago. The soldier slowly opened the doors and made his way down the long pathway, then promptly kneeled in front of a meditation mat where a dark figure sat, moving objects around on a small table in front of her. The Elite touched his head to the floor.

"Mistress Karai."

Karai ripped her green eyes away from the table and bore her gaze into the Elite. "What is the meaning of this interruption?"

"Forgive me, but the turtle Leonardo… for a moment he regained his composure."

Karai glared at the soldier and gave him her full attention. "Continue."

"I believe I know the cause. My comrades walked in to spar with the turtle and I believe it triggered a past memory. One which was painful. My comrades and I mercilessly attacked the turtle some time ago. He was gravely injured physically and mentally. I believe the situation was familiar and it forced that past memory into his mind, relieving him of the control you hold over him."

Karai hesitated in thought. "I see…"

"What will you have me do, Master?"

After a moment, Karai answered calmly, rising to her feet. "I commend you for being able to return him to my control. Continue with your duties. I must have a private discussion with _them_ to insure such an incident does not happen again."

The Elite bowed his head and backed away with his head lowered until he was out the door. Once outside, he headed back to the room in which his comrades and the turtle were sparring.

* * *

Another piece of red fabric shot through the air, accompanied by a large dusting of sand that proceeded to spray everywhere from the beaten punching bag. Raph had been going at the bag for over an hour. He had warned his brothers ahead of time that he needed to be left alone. He knew how mad he was becoming, and he didn't want anyone to be around when it happened. When he got this angry, all he saw was red. He lost all train of thought and viciously attacked anything in range. 

Don and Mikey resorted to secluding themselves in Donatello's lab. They could hear the demise of yet another punching bag, but knew it would be pointless to try and save it. They were all overworked and worried. It had been nearly two weeks since they lost track of Leo, and it didn't look like they were getting any closer to discovering his whereabouts.

Don ran another program on his computer. "I can't find any other information about mind control."

Mikey hopped on a chair in fear, his hands covering his mouth. "What if an alien did it?! What if they abducted Leo and replaced him with a Leo pod?!" Mikey's eyes went wide in fear. "LEO'S A POD PERSON!"

Don grabbed Mikey's shoulders and shook him slightly. "Mikey! Calm down. Leo's not a pod person. It's OK." He gently patted his shoulder and coaxed Mikey back down into a sitting position.

Mikey sighed and hung his head. "Sorry…"

Don smiled sadly. "It's all right. You're worried, we all are, and at least you're looking at any available option and not just settling on one. That's good."

Mikey grinned sadly and rubbed his arm. "You still think it's Karai that's doing all this?"

"I definitely think she has something to do with it. Who other female villain with a grudge against us, especially Leo, do we know? Besides… he referred to her as the Shredder, and Karai is the only female opponent we have that had anything to do with Saki." Don scratched his chin. "I don't know if Karai has the capabilities of using mind control, but I wouldn't put it past her."

"How do you think she's doing it?"

"…I don't know. There could be any number of ways she could be going about this."

Mikey frowned and looked back down. "What if… what if we can't find him…"

Don looked at Mikey in surprise. "Don't think like that, Mikey. We'll find him," he kneeled in front of Mikey and squeezed his arm. "I promise you, Mikey. We'll find him."

Mikey gave Don a slight smile and squeezed Don's wrist in response. "But what are we gonna do? We need a plan.. Even if we knew how to come up with a 'well-developed' plan, we don't even know where to start."

Don rubbed his right hand over his face and took a deep breath. "Maybe… maybe we should just head to Foot Headquarters and confront her ourselves."

Mikey's eyes widened in shock. "Who are you and what did you do with my brother? Are you really Raph in Don's bandanna?" He thrust his finger into Don's arm.

Don chuckled and rubbed his arm. "I know it sounds nuts…"

"An understatement."

"And rash, but what other choice do we have? We can't just wait around here for Leo to attack us again."

"Has Master Splinter said anything?"

Don shook his head. "He's constantly in meditation. He said he heard Leo two weeks ago while we were searching for him in the sewers. The night we found the blood."

"Well maybe sensei can find him! I mean… he is sensei."

Don hesitated. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think sensei is going about this the right way."

Mikey blinked in surprise. "You… you think that Master Splinter is… wrong?"

Don nodded slightly. "If we were going to find him through meditation, we would have found him already. Something has to be blocking Leo's mind, but I think sensei is so worked up with finding him, he's not listening to reason."

Mikey frowned and sighed. "He's gonna tell us not to go."

"He's not going to know."

Mikey stared at his brother in awe. "OK, I can see Raph saying that or me saying that… but you saying that?! Don… we can't do that!"

"Master Splinter has two busted ribs from that kick Leo landed him. He acts like it doesn't hurt him, but he's not as young as he used to be, Mikey. He's acting more like a father now than a teacher, not that I can blame him. We can't risk him getting hurt by tagging along." When he received a nervous glance from his brother, Don continued. "We're probably going to land ourselves in a rough fight, Mikey. I don't want sensei to get hurt, especially if he's already in bad condition. This is going to be an attack first ask questions later operation."

"… In other words, we're doing things Raph's way."

"Yeah," Don said with a nod. "We're doing things Raph's way."

Mikey scratched at his arm. "I think this is really wearing on Raph," Don glanced at him and Mikey continued. "You know Raph doesn't like to admit when he's worried about something, or someone… and it looks like Raph's trying to take on Leo's job for us."

Don nodded. "It's only logical that he would, and you're right. Raph is worried, just like us. We just have to give him his space."

Meanwhile, Raph had successfully disemboweled the punching bag and now resorted to panting for air as he leaned against the wall. He had his sai in his hands. His head was resting on his right forearm as he leaned against the wall, the sai loosely hanging from his fingertips. His left arm was almost dead-weight and just swung beside him, the other sai scraping against the brick. "Leo… where are ya?"

Raph slowly slid down on the floor and let his sai drop. He bent his knees towards his chest, rested his arms on them and placed his head down on his forearms. With a deep breath, Raph tried to calm himself down, mentally coaxing himself. _"Leo, we gotta find ya. I can't do this. Don and Mikey keep lookin' ta me for the answers and I ain't got 'em. Not that I'll ever tell you this but… I'm worried about ya…"_ Raph clenched his eyes shut. _"It's been over two weeks… why can't we find you?! Why don't we know how to help you?! I know you're not evil. I promise we'll find you and get you back."_

Raph swallowed and stared down at the floor sadly. "I promise." With a deep breath, he pushed himself off of the floor and stretched out his overworked muscles. With a crack of his neck, he made a decision. After picking up his abandoned sai, he walked over to Don's lab and knocked before sticking his head in. "Guys… listen up."

Don and Mikey looked up at their brother and gave him their full attention.

"I know this sounds nuts… but we're goin' to see Karai. I'll beat the truth outta her if I have to, but we're runnin' out of options. I know that it's crazy and I think you two should stay here and just let me handle it."

"One step ahead of you, Raph." Don stood up and placed his bo staff along his shell.

Raph blinked and cocked his head at Don. "Huh?"

Mikey stood up. "Don had the same idea."

Raph's jaw dropped. "_Donnie_ had the same idea?"

Don nodded and slung a bag over his shoulders. "It's the only plan we've got, Raph. We don't have a choice, but there's no way you're leaving Mikey and I here. We'll all go together."

"But…"

"No way. We do this as a family. That's the only way we'll be able to pull it off."

Raph hesitated and then nodded reluctantly. "We can't tell, sensei." When he saw his brothers' nod, he started again. "Well then, if we're all agreed, then we leave tonight."

(TBC)


	10. A New Comrade

**Note: **Corrections have been made to two names in this story, and a big thanks to Sasshaia for pointing out the mistake. "Haruko" has been changed to "Ichiro" and "Kiyoshi" has been changed to "Kyoshi."

* * *

And once again I've neglected to update this story for... is it two months now? Sorry about the delay! 

**Disclaimer: **TMNT and all characters affiliated with TMNT do not belong to me. I supplied certain characters with names, but the characters themselves, as well as the TMNT, are property of Mr. Laird and Mr. Eastman, not me. I make no profit from this, so please don't sue.

* * *

**Italics: **mental thought 

**A New Comrade**

The Elite continued to watch Leo. The turtle had been sharpening his katana for the past hour, being very careful and treating the weapons with great respect; he handled them like they were as delicate as a snowflake. Although the Elite would never believe he could admit it, he had secretly found an odd sort of companionship that the turtle provided. Although most of the time the two rarely talked, there were always a few exceptions.

"You have sharpened your katana for nearly an hour, kame."

Leo looked up at the Elite and back down at his katana, but halted his movements.

"Sharpening it gives you pleasure?"

"… I don't know." Leo's voice was hard, but the Elite could barely pick up on a soft undertone.

"You do not know whether it gives you pleasure?"

"It…reminds me of something, though I'm not sure of what." Leo looked down at the red and black wrappings around the hilts. "Something about these wrappings just doesn't seem right."

The Elite nodded but said nothing more about the weapons. "You have been here for a little over two weeks now."

Leo nodded and looked back at the Elite. "Over two weeks, and I have yet to learn your name."

The Elite blinked in surprise. The turtle had caught him completely off guard. He never expected for him to ask his name, though he did imagine it would be a common question after residing with someone for such a length of time. Then again, he never imagined he would be in such a situation in the first place. Before, this turtle was a hated enemy, one which he was, supposedly, destined to help destroy. It was never meant for him to actually carry out a civilized conversation with the creature.

"My name is Kisho."

Leo bowed his head to him. "I am honored to meet you, Kisho."

The Elite blinked again. Could this actually be happening? Was he really indulging in a friendly conversation with this turtle? A sworn enemy?

"I am… also, likewise, honored to be in your presence, kame."

"You may call me by my name if you wish."

The Elite nodded. "Yes… I believe I shall from this point forward… Leonardo."

Leo almost smiled and then returned his attention to his katana.

Kisho watched him curiously. If his comrades were to find out about any of this, he would be accused of treason. However, his job was to protect the turt-- Leonardo. Of course he should know more about him. The Elite had already accepted Leonardo as one of his own. As far as this Elite was concerned, Leonardo was now one of them, whether the effects of the mind control were permanent or not. As much as he would hate to admit it, he observed Leonardo as a new companion. How could he not? He had kept guard over him since Leonardo had been brought to them and, in that time, had learned many things about him. Despite what Karai said, Leonardo was not a dishonorable ninja. It was obvious that he had a great deal of love and compassion for his family. That was the only thing that threatened a break in Karai's control over him.

"Your tattoo…" Kisho looked down at Leo's arm.

"It isn't real."

Kisho blinked in surprise. "Each of us was assigned the insignia when we pledged our services to the Foot clan. They dared to give you a faulty tattoo? I shall speak with them."

"It's alright. I believe they wish to know they can trust me before they bestow the real insignia upon me. I thank you for your support though."

Kisho inhaled sharply. _I supported him?_ _I did… but for what purpose?_

With a confused shake of his head, he watched Leonardo as he gazed down into the reflection of his blades. "Leonardo… I must ask you," When Leo looked up at him in response, he continued. "Do you remember your family?"

Leo hesitated. "I remember a false family that betrayed me."

Curiously, Kisho cocked his head and took his place upon a separate mat opposite Leo. "How so?"

"I can't explain it. If by family, you are referring to the three turtles and the rat, then yes. I do remember them. I have many memories of them, but I have been helped to remember that such happy memories were only dreams that I was tricked into believing."

Kisho silently inquired more information.

"Some of those dreams seem like memories though. They seem so real…" Leo trailed off, then quickly shook his head. "But they were all lies. I have no family. I did once, but I have been informed that these creatures that pretend to be my family disposed of them. Now I shall bring back the honor that was taken away and restore it back to my late family."

"What do you mean? How did all of this happen?"

"When…" Leo hesitated and looked confused. He squinted his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip. "I don't remember…"

Kisho tried to keep his voice calm and steady. "You don't?"

Leo shook his head. He seemed very unnerved. "It's like… the truth just popped out of nowhere."

Kisho nodded slowly. _So that's how they're doing it. They tried to erase his past but his bond to his family is simply too strong, so they made it seem as if his memories were only dreams. The only thing that would provoke this ninja enough to make him want to kill would be if someone put his family at risk. He is their protector. That's why it is so difficult to make the control permanent, because his love for his family is too strong. _The Elite furrowed his brow in thought. _And that's why Mistress Karai feels it is so urgent that he kill his family immediately. She fears his mental strength, supported by his need to protect his loved ones, will be able to break free of the control. But this…. _The Elite continued to watch Leo and felt a small pang of pity well up in his stomach. _To do this… this is unnecessary. Why is it not possible for my comrades and myself to dispose of Leonardo's family? He should not be made to do this, to kill his own family. He's so confused right now. Such actions are not…. _

He was quickly brought out of his train of thought when Leo asked him a question. "I am sorry, Leonardo. I did not hear you."

Leo nodded. "That's ok. I asked what about you? Where is your family?"

He tensed and clenched his fists. "My family…" He looked down and shook his head. "My family…"

Leo watched curiously. "I meant no disrespect by asking."

"No, it is not that. My family is deceased."

Leo nodded sadly. "I am sorry to hear that."

Kisho looked at Leo. No matter how they tried to control him, they would never be able to fully change him. Leonardo felt sorry for him, **him**… one of his enemies that were deceiving him. "There is nothing to be sorry for. It happened very long ago. My family now is my fellow comrades in arms. They are like brothers to me."

"That's good. A bond between very good friends is sometimes stronger than that of blood. A blood relation is not required in order to be family."

"Yes…" The Elite nodded. "Yes, you are right." After a moment's hesitation, Kisho removed his flat hat and placed it beside him. He then unwrapped the red garment that covered the lower half of his face and dropped it in his lap, exposing a full view of his head for the first time. "Let there be no more secrets between us." After what he was helping his comrades do to Leonardo, the least he could do was be honest with him (aside from hiding the awful truth that raced through his own mind).

Leo looked at Kisho and studied his face. The first thing that he noticed was the man's eyes. They were golden, not the usual red color that he would have expected. Somehow… his eyes held some sense of innocence behind them. His skin was softly tanned and, obviously, he was well fit. A standard sized nose was positioned at the center of his face, and below that his standard sized mouth. He was clean-shaven and, based on any woman's first thought, was generally handsome. He couldn't have been any older than 24.

"You're so young."

"Not as young as you. I currently hold 22 years."

Leo nodded and, this time did manage a half smile. "Thank you for your trust."

Kisho nodded and allowed a small smirk to temporarily take place along the corner of his mouth. He watched Leo as he returned his gaze to his katana again. His smirk soon transformed back into a stern frown._ Perhaps this is not the best way to go about such matters. Perhaps this isn't the best way to get him on our side. Of course he would never cross over of his own free will, but to kill his family? I don't know if I can…_

His thoughts were once again interrupted as the door to the room slid open and revealed the three Elite guards. Kisho watched them for a moment, turned to Leo and bowed his head. "If you will excuse me."

Leo looked over to the three Elite and nodded back at Kisho.

The unmasked Elite stood up and walked out, leaving his garment and hat inside the room with Leo. Once outside, his comrades led him further down the hall to their own room, a room much similar to Leo's. Once there, Kisho promptly received a punch across the right cheek.

The Elite who punched him, the one who held the axe, glared at him. "You dishonor us."

Kisho calmly wiped the blood away from the newly formed cut across his cheekbone and locked eyes with his attacker. "How so?"

His answer was nothing more than a growl. "You speak to him as if he is one of us."

"As far as I am concerned, he is."

"Traitor."

"It is not treachery to respect him."

The Elite holding the trident watched Kisho carefully as he saw his axe-wielding comrade shaking in anger. The other placed his spear on the ground and stepped in front of his two allies. "You respect that thing?"

"He is no thing. He is as human as the rest of us, and yes."

"How can you possibly?! He is still our enemy!"

"A wise warrior also respects his enemies, were you not taught that?" Upon receiving no answer, Kisho continued. "And I do not consider him to be my enemy. I have spent the entirety of two weeks with him. He is an honorable ninja."

The Elite wielding the axe stepped forward and roughly shoved Kisho back. "You are a fool, Kisho!"

"Ichiro, my friend, please…"

"Do not feed me such ridiculous lies! He dishonored our master!"

"Mistress Karai…"

"KARAI IS NOT MY MASTER!"

The three men looked down silently and allowed the engraged Elite to continue.

"Oroku Saki was our rightful master, not this brat. Had he of caught this turtle, he would have destroyed him and his family already." Ichiro took a deep breath and lowered his axe to the floor. "The only reason I have not revolted against these assignments is, although Master Saki despised the turtles, he held a likeness for the blue-clad one. He even offered him a chance to join sides. That is the only reason why I have allowed such a creature to live, but he is always my enemy," he looked hard at Kisho. "And anyone who protects him of their own accord, other than orders, is my enemy as well." Ichiro quickly walked out of the room, closely followed by the Elite who, picked up his spear, and carried it alongside his back.

Kisho looked down and then up at the only remaining ninja, the one who held the trident. "Kyoshi, he is not our enemy."

The ninja nodded and stepped up to Kisho. "You cannot blame him for being angry. Master Saki was our one and only master."

"You still believe Leonardo to be your enemy…"

"Old habits die hard, my friend. It is not wise to turn against your comrades. Ichiro is angry."

"I have not turned against anyone."

"You have removed your ceremonial garb for the kame; even call him by his name." When the Elite received no answer, he sighed and nodded. "We have been requested to take care of a few local gang members who have not made their payments to Mistress Karai. The kame is expected to come along."

Kisho nodded. "He will be there."

After a moment's hesitation, Kyoshi spoke softly. "I realize you miss your family, Kisho, but do not grow too attached to this kame. Chances are, if this control _they _have him under does not work, he will not be with us long."

Kisho nodded and quickly exited the room. With a deep breath, he followed down the hall and entered Leonardo's room once more.

Leo looked over to him guiltily. "I hope I didn't get you in trouble."

"No." The unmasked Elite took his place on the mat again. "Our services will be required to take care of a discrepancy among a band of Purple Dragons tonight."

Leo nodded and put his katana back alongside his back. "You're bleeding."

Kisho again wiped the cut with the back of his hand. "It is nothing." He looked up briefly and noticed the guilt ridden look on Leo's face. _He is worried. I have never had someone worry since my family…. _He shook his head. _The look in his eyes. He looks at me in a way similar to that of the looks he would give to his brothers. It's… protective. _Kisho gave Leo a small smile. "Things are well… my friend."

Leo half smiled and nodded. "When do we leave?"

"Tonight."

(TBC)


	11. Forces Collide

**A/N: **Wow, 11 months since I updated... nearly a year. Sorry about that! bows in apology My plot demon bunnies ran away after they saw me showering my roommate's cat with attention, as cats typically demand. Anyway, it took me a long time to earn their trust back. Things are still shaky between the fuzzy demons and I, but, if I'm lucky, they'll stick around. I hope this chapter makes up for it if you guys are still interested! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

**Italics: **mental thought/past events

* * *

Forces Collide

* * *

Raph peered his head out around the corner of Don's lab. The lair was dead quiet and pitch black. A small flickering candlelight could be seen behind Splinter's door, but nothing more.

Raph whispered back to his brothers. "Ok, let's go."

Raph ran from the lab to the lair entrance and disappeared into the sewers. Don followed close behind and Mikey took up the rear. Once they were a few hundred feet from the lair, Mikey glanced back over his right shoulder as the three of them ran.

"Master Splinter's gonna kill us…"

Don caught up to Raph and the two ran side by side, glancing at one another after Mikey's statement.

Mikey sighed. "Scratch that. He's gonna kill us, do some Master Splinter stuff and bring us back to life, put us through the worst training session of our lives, and then kill us again."

Don smiled sadly. "Sounds about right."

Raph glanced at Don and Mikey sadly before turning his attention back to the front. "It's probably about time we hit the surface." When he received a nod from both Don and Mikey, he ran up a ladder and slowly lifted a manhole cover. His white eyes peered through the night and he made absolutely certain that no one was around before he completely removed the manhole cover and jumped out. In a flash, he darted into an alley. Don stuck his head up and flipped outside, following Raph's example.

They watched Mikey as he too jumped out, replaced the cover and ran towards his brothers.

"Now what?"

Raph looked around and then pointed up at the rooftops of the buildings they were hidden between. "Up."

With a quick leap, all three used the brick walls as leverage and hoisted themselves on top of the roof. After a brief scan of the area, the three turtles began their search, racing across the rooftops in an attempt to find any clue that would bring them closer to their goal.

* * *

Ichiro waited impatiently outside Foot Headquarters along the stairway. He fingered the blade on his axe and growled in annoyance. He only stopped his movements when Kyoshi emerged from the building and joined him.

"Where are Ryuji, Kisho and the kame?"

Kyoshi placed the trident alongside his back. "Ryuji is coming. Kisho and the kame will be here shortly."

Sure enough, the Elite harboring the spear walked out of the building and towards his comrades.

Ichiro glared at him. "You are well known for not being prompt, Ryuji."

The ninja looked at Ichiro and bowed his head. "Forgive me."

With a sigh, Ichiro placed a hand upon Ryuji's shoulder. "I am sorry, my friend. Are you ready?"

Ryuji nodded. "Yes, brother."

Ichiro nodded. "Very good. Now, if Kisho and his kame scum would—" He glanced back at the doors as he saw Kisho and Leo stride out. The Elite watched them warily.

Kisho, now garbed in his proper attire once again, stole a glance at Leo. _He looks so determined. He isn't afraid at all._

Leo remained quiet, a stoic expression clearly displayed on his face. He and Kisho took their places beside the three Elite.

Ichiro nodded to Kisho and then turned a glare upon Leo, who in turn, stared right back at him. Ichiro's voice was harsh and full of malice. "Are you afraid, kame?"

Leonardo maintained his focused stare and used a firm, steady voice. "No."

"Good. Then let us go." Ichiro ran off into the darkness. Ryuji followed close behind, along with Kyoshi. Kisho looked at Leo who returned the stare. With a nod to each other, they raced after the three Elite.

Their destination was a small warehouse by the bay, surrounded by many other small buildings. The mission shouldn't be difficult. Their only objective was to obtain the money from the small collection of gang members and, if necessary, put the underdogs back in their places.

The four Elite and Leo raced along the rooftops. Their speed was amazing, and their formation was critiqued perfectly. They ran in a pattern, and Leonardo caught on quickly. Ichiro was in the lead. Behind him on his left was Ryuji, and on his right, Kisho. Kyoshi took up the rear alone. Leo edged his way back to Kyoshi and claimed a spot beside him. The two made eye contact and, after a long stare between them, Kyoshi nodded to Leo and both continued to run until, at last, the bay came into view.

* * *

"Where else should we look, Raph?" Mikey hopped the distance between, yet, another two buildings and came to a stop beside his brothers.

Raph heaved a sigh and looked around. "There's gotta be a place we missed."

Don turned towards the bay sadly. "Maybe we should retrace our steps. The smallest thing could matter."

"I don't see what other option we got," Raph agreed.

Mikey watched Raph and Don for a moment and then caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He cocked an eye ridge and watched as he saw five shadows in the distance leaping along the rooftops. With a blink, he moved to the edge of the roof.

Raph and Don exchanged a confused look and came up behind him. Don poked Mikey's arm. "What's up?"

"Look."

Don exchanged another confused glance with Raph and did as he was told. When he did, his eyes widened slightly. "Are those…"

Raph squinted his eyes. "Foot ninja."

"The Elite?"

"Yup. I can see those hats from here."

Mikey nodded. "They are nice hats."

"Not what I meant, Mikey."

"Heh… sorry."

Don watched the Elite jump along the rooftops. "Wait a minute; I thought there were only four Elite guards."

Mikey knocked on Don's head. "Duh, Donnie."

"Ow," Don rubbed his head and glared at Mikey. "Then why did I just count five?"

Mikey and Raph both blinked and stared hard out into the night. Mikey shook Raph's arm. "He's right! There are five of them! But that dude isn't wearing a hat…"

"You're right… they look like…" Don centered his attention on the figure and watched him closely. After a few seconds and a strong gust of wind, a slight view of two strands of fabric flying behind the shadow's head could be seen.

Don and Mikey's eyes widened and both gasped simultaneously. "Bandanna tails!"

Before either of them had the chance to consult Raph, he was already gone. They watched, dumbstruck for a brief second, as Raph leaped off the building and raced after the shadows. When reality finally struck them, the two turtles bolted after their brother and joined in his pursuit of the shadows.

The four Elite and their newest member dashed along the rooftops and jumped down onto the ground. With a silent nod from Ichiro, each kept the position they had been running in and slowly made their way into the mass development of warehouses. All five warily continued to their destination when Leo suddenly stopped. Kyoshi noticed that his running partner had ceased moving and also stopped. Being a man of little words, Kyoshi stood there and watched Leo curiously.

Leo bowed his head down and stared at the ground. A dark shadow formed across his face as he furrowed his brow in anger.

Noticing that two of his companions had stopped, Kisho also halted his movements and stared back at them. "Ichiro, Ryuji."

Ichiro and Ryuji looked to Kisho and then back at Kyoshi and Leonardo. Annoyed, Ichiro crossed his arms. "The kame is nothing but trouble. He only slows us—"

Leo interrupted harshly. "We are not alone." He quickly drew out his right katana.

Ryuji stepped forward. "Do not be foolish. Had we of been followed, we would have sensed it, and if we could not, Ichiro would have known."

Ichiro looked around. "We are followed by no one. Keep moving."

Leo glared at Ichiro. "You are wrong."

Ryuji and Kyoshi blinked in surprise. It was a rare occurrence that any living soul ever told Ichiro that he was wrong. Kisho kept a wary eye on Ichiro in case he sought to attack Leonardo.

Ichiro glared at Leo and spoke gruffly. "You know nothing." He quickly pulled his axe and charged Leo for an attack. However, he was quickly interrupted as Leo swiped his katana at him, disarming him so fast that Ichiro couldn't even see it coming. Preparing for the end, he watched the turtle swipe his katana back towards his head; he couldn't do anything but close his eyes. Once he did so, he heard a loud clang next to his ear and his eyes snapped open once more.

Leonardo's katana rested beside his head, but when he looked at the turtle, Leo wasn't looking back. Instead, Leo was positioned in front of him, guarding him, and looking directly into the shadows between two warehouses. Ichiro watched Leo in confusion and then looked down to his side. There, he saw a silver edged shuriken. He blinked in surprise.

A low voice growled out from the shadows. "Go after my brother again and not even yer all powerful Shredder will be able ta stop me from killin' ya next time."

Raph slowly stepped out of the shadows and allowed the moon's rays to shine down on him, revealing him for who he really was. He had his left sai gripped tightly and his right hand was still on his belt, ready to draw another shuriken at a moment's notice.

Don and Mikey also revealed themselves and took a place on either side of Raph, their weapons at the ready.

Leo glared at them and slowly moved his katana away from Ichiro's head. Kisho, Kyoshi and Ryuji raced up behind Ichiro and Leo and stood in front of them defensively.

Ichiro blinked at the turtles and then glanced at Leo, who gave him an 'I told you so' look before readjusting his glare back to his brothers. Ichiro looked down angrily for a moment and then to the turtles.

Raph growled at the Elite. "I'm gonna say this once, give us back our brother."

Ichiro looked at Leo and then took his place in front of the group again. "Something tells me he doesn't want to come back." He glanced back at Leo and smirked when he saw him get into a battle ready stance, holding his katana at the ready.

"And he really looks like the judge of what's best for 'im at the moment. I'll tell ya once more. Let.Him.Go."

Ichiro stepped aside. "Neither I, nor my comrades are holding your brother back. If he wishes to return… by all means." He gestured to Leo and motioned for the other Elite to step aside. They complied, Kisho a bit more reluctant than the others.

Raph looked at Leo and motioned for him to follow him. "Come on, bro. Let's get ya out of here." When he received nothing but a hard glare from Leo, he tried again. "Leo, c'mon. We're takin' ya home. You got any idea how worried we've been about ya?! You've been gone for weeks! Snap outta this little fit you're in and come back home!"

Leo emitted a low growl. "I have no home."

Don pleaded with Leo. "Yes you do. Back in the sewers with Raph, Mikey and me. Back with Master Splinter, our father. We're brothers, Leo. You've always got a home."

Leo snarled at Don and the purple-clad turtle glanced down sadly.

Raph growled and bore his teeth towards the Elite. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way then." He took out his other sai and gave both his weapons a twirl before holding them perpendicular with his waist. "One way or tha other, we're gettin' our brother back."

Ryuji drew his spear and crouched down. "You make a mistake, _ninja_. Give up this futile tirade and go home."

Raph, mirrored the Elite and crouched down to face him. "We ain't goin' nowhere 'til we get our brother back."

"Fools."

Raph glared at him, glanced at Leo and turned back to Ryuji. Don and Mikey scanned the area together, hiding any nervousness with fierce determination. Don kept his eyes on Leo while Mikey whispered to Raph as he slipped up beside him.

"Any idea what we do now? We're kinda outnumbered…"

Raph whispered back. "I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'…" Raph took into account everyone's positions. The Elite wielding the axe and spear were slightly separated on the left from Leo and the Elite with the naginata and trident. Raph glanced at Don and cut his eyes back at the two Elite on the left. Noting the suggestive motion, Don slipped his hand into a pocket on the side of his belt and concealed an item in his hand.

Raph glowered at his enemies and spoke low. "On my mark…"

Don and Mikey readied themselves to attack. In one swift motion, Raph faked left as if he were attacking Ichiro and Ryuji. In the split second that the two lunged forward, Don tossed a small gas grenade towards them. Raph swerved back to the right the moment the explosive hit. In the time it took for the smoke to rise, Raph was already on top of Kyoshi. Ichiro and Ryuji were forced to back away and coughed violently as the smoke burned their eyes and cluttered their lungs, making it difficult for them to breathe, seeing as how they unknowingly leaped straight into the smoke. Don and Mikey immediately joined the fray, Mikey glaring at Kisho while Don confronted Leo.

Kisho watched Mikey move around. "You shall never achieve your goal. Your brother is ours now. Accept that."

Mikey glared harder and twirled his nunchucks. "Get ready to _accept_ a royal smack down from yours truly."

"Then you shall die a fool." In an instant, Kisho had his naginata out and ruthlessly attacked Mikey. The turtle was forced to go on the defense and began to look for an opening as he continued to flip away and swing out attacks whenever he could.

Don circled Leo and watched carefully as his brother eyed him, venom shining in his eyes. "Leo, please. Don't do this. Come on, bro. You know us."

Without a word, Leo drew his other katana and immediately dished out a series of powerful attacks against Don. Don blocked the strikes with his bo staff and continued pleading with Leo.

"Leo, please! It's me! Don!"

To his dismay, his pleas went ignored and Leo continued his onslaught. Don watched in horror as splinters and chips were carved from his bo. He realized it would snap at any moment with the forceful blows Leo was sending out. He also realized it was the only defense he could afford to put up. Leo was stronger than he remembered, and he was fast. The blows came one after the other. If he tried to roll away, Leo could skewer him easily.

Raph was having a difficult time with Kyoshi. The Elite had managed to unleash a forceful kick to Raph's plastron after he was tackled, and ever since, had been slashing rapidly with his trident, barely giving Raph a chance to defend himself. He desperately called out to his brothers.

"End this fast! Before the others have a chance to recover!"

Even with the simultaneous shouts of agreement from Don and Mikey, Raph knew himself that it was easier said than done. He was losing this fight, and the Elite he was fighting knew it.

Meanwhile, Mikey had somehow managed to wrap the chains of his nunchucks around the center of Kisho's naginata. The two were now at a standstill with their weapons, each trying to use force to overcome the other. The only thing they could do at the moment was glower at one another and murmur threats.

Kisho growled at Mikey. "End this, you fool. You shall not obtain anything by taking part in such a rash action."

Mikey huffed and tried to push against Kisho. "Since when does an Elite care about our welfare?"

"You misunderstand me, kame. I care nothing for you or your family. I merely wish to save myself the trouble of such a pointless fight when nothing will be gained because of it."

"Something's gonna be gained, alright. We're getting our brother back."

Kisho glared hard at Mikey. "Your brother belongs with us now. He has a new family. Forget him if you do not wish to meet a messy end."

"The only ones who're gonna meet their ends are you guys after we open a can of kick shell on you for doing what you did to Leo!"

Kisho snarled and instantly made a decision. _I shall not allow my friend to go through the hardships of such a dastardly deed as this. I will perform his sin for him so we can put this behind us and move on. Losing his baby brother will be a deafening blow and will, perhaps, eliminate the orange one from his mind permanently. _Kisho jerked the naginata and twisted hard, causing Mikey to jerk one of his hands away at the painfully sharp movement of having his wrist twisted around. Kisho forcefully snapped the naginata back fully into his grasp and slung Mikey's nunchucks off. With a twirl, he attacked. All Mikey could do was dodge the sharp blade as it moved faster and faster towards his neck.

Realizing that his opponent was fast and, although he hated to admit it, an excellent fighter, Kisho knew he would never end this unless he disabled the turtle, and his time was running out. In one swift movement, he swept the blade of his naginata downward and made a clean incision along Mikey's left thigh. Mikey yelped in pain and immediately clutched both hands around his leg, cringing at the eerie feeling of blood seeping through his fingers. Kisho then used the blunt end of his weapon to ram into Mikey's plastron, sending him tumbling to the ground in a painful gasp.

Raphael saw the actions from the corner of his eye and growled in frustration, as he was powerless to stop it. The moment his attention was diverted, Kyoshi managed to use the end of his trident to knock Raph's left sai out of his hand. Before Raph had a chance to respond, Kyoshi lunged his trident at Raph's arm. Raph cringed as he felt his right forearm slide between the razor sharp prongs of the trident and grimaced as his arm was pinned to the ground. The action caused him to fall onto his back as his opponent dug the points of his weapon into the ground below and place a firm footing on Raph's plastron. The Elite bent down, latched onto the middle prong of Raph's sai and jerked it from his grasp. In one twirl, he held Raph's weapon in his own hand and eyed Raph with determination as he dangled the sai over Raph's throat.

Leo had a momentary pause in his attacks as he witnessed Mikey and Raph being thrown to the ground just seconds away from their end. A strange feeling welled inside his stomach, although he couldn't decipher what it was or what it meant. He only snapped back to his senses when he saw Don try to make a move for Mikey. With a yell, he continued his onslaught on his brother. Don returned to defending himself but gasped in surprise as another resounding strike from Leo's katana finally sliced through the center of his staff, separating it into two pieces of splintered wood. Before Don had time to react, Leo dropped his left katana, snatched Don's arm and twisted it behind his back. With a smooth motion, he flipped Donatello around towards him so his shell was against his plastron, and held his right katana up to the surprised turtle's neck.

Don swallowed hard. _This is it…we failed. How can it really end like this? I'm going to be killed by my own brother. Raph and Mikey are going to be murdered here. No one will ever know…Leo…I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry we couldn't get you back._ He felt his eyes water and, despite his efforts, could not fight off a tear that escaped one of his panicked eyes and rolled down his cheek. The small droplet of water fell against Leo's arm that held the katana millimeters away from his captive's neck.

Leo tensed at the sensation, completely unprepared for it. _Why is he crying? Is he so pathetic that he must cry for the fear of death?_

Suddenly, a voice broke through his mind. A familiar voice, one that he had learned to despise. _"Stop it! It's Donnie! Don't do it!" _Leo growled and gritted his teeth against the annoying voice. _"You've got to stop! You can't kill him! He's your little brother! You have to protect him!"_

With a snarl, Leo shouted. "ENOUGH!" He firmly pressed the blade of the katana to Don's neck and prepared to slice it wide open, when another moist droplet from his prisoner fell onto his wrist and glided down his arm. Leo's eyes went wide and he immediately halted his movements. Suddenly, he winced at a tingling pain that coursed through his brain, accompanied by a bright flash.

_A ten-year-old Leonardo stood outside of Donatello's door in concern. He heard sniffling from the other side and had come running when he thought he heard something crash. Raph and Mikey were still asleep; a sonic boom couldn't wake those two when they were sleeping this hard. Splinter had left for an hour to retrieve food and supplies for the rest of the week._

_Leo knocked hesitantly on Don's door. "Donnie? Are you ok?"_

_A soft reply could barely be heard through the door, further muffled by soft sniffles. "I'm fine."_

_Leo frowned. "Can I come in?"_

"_If…if you want…"_

_Leo slowly opened the door and looked at Don. He was seated in the middle of his room beside his computer monitor, which was lying face down. Glass was everywhere, and Don was holding onto his hand._

_Leo's eyes widened. "Donnie, what happened?" He tried to make his way over to his brother without stepping in all of the glass shards._

_Don kept his head down and spoke softly, sniffing every few seconds. "I was trying to move the monitor…I wanted it on the other table so I tried to pick it up by myself…"_

_Leo glanced down at the white monitor that was well over half the size that he and Don were put together. With a frown, he looked back at Don sadly. "I would have helped you."_

"_I didn't want to bother you." He sniffed again._

_Leo looked around. "Hang on just a sec, ok?" Before Don could answer, Leo had ran out of the room and returned with a broom and dustpan. Don watched in surprise and a growing sadness as Leo swept up the glass shards and secluded them all in the dustpan. _

_When Leo was finished, he knelt down in front of Don and looked down at his hand that he was holding onto so protectively. "Did you get hurt?"_

_Don sniffed again and opened his hand. A large piece of bloodstained glass was sticking out of the middle of his palm. "I tried to pick it back up after I dropped it…and my hand slipped onto the glass and this piece broke off."_

_Leo bit his lip. "Can I see?" _

_Don nodded and allowed Leo to take his hand._

_Leo leaned in beside Don and carefully inspected the glass and frowned as he felt Don's arm shake. He blinked when he felt a small droplet of water hit his arm. When he looked up, he saw Don with tears rolling down his cheeks._

Leo swallowed hard and closed his eyes tightly, tightening his grip on Don as another flash went surging through his mind.

_Leo smiled sadly. "It's ok. I bet I can get this right out. Want me to try?"_

_Don nodded hesitantly and Leo looked at the glass again. It was big, so it wasn't hard for him to grab onto. Leo took hold of the top of the shard and slowly pulled upward so he wouldn't break the piece and risk leaving more shards in his brother's hand. Don whimpered. Leo squinted his eyes and slid his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. _

"_Almost got it…" In another second, Leo had the glass shard out and put it in the dustpan. "There."_

_Don sniffed and rubbed his beak with the back of his free hand. Leo smiled sadly and unwrapped his bandanna. He then tied it around his brother's hand securely and patted his shoulder. "Master Splinter will fix it up as good as new when he gets back. I would but," Leo smiled sheepishly, "I can't reach the medicine cabinet in the bathroom."_

_Don sniffed again and glomped Leo in a hug, crying softly. Leo blinked in surprise, fearing he had hurt his brother, and hugged him back. "Did I hurt you?"_

Leo blinked rapidly in confusion, still keeping a tight grip on Donatello. He took in a shuddering breath and turned his gaze to Kisho and Mikey. For some reason, he felt torn. He watched curiously as Kisho raised the blade of his naginata to send a fatal swoop down on Mikey. He sensed movement to his right and turned to see Ichiro and Ryuji; they had emerged from the blinding smoke sometime during his dream, if that's what you could call it.

Ichiro stood side by side with Ryuji and surveyed all of the turtles in anger. His expression eased, however, once he saw the situation. "Excellent. Soon they will be put out of our misery." He turned his head to Kisho and Michelangelo and smirked as Kisho held his blade above the turtle's head.

Leo shifted his attention back to Kisho—his friend—and Michelangelo—his enemy. He watched blankly as the steel blade made its swift decent upon the doomed turtle.

* * *

(TBC)


	12. A Wasted Effort

**A/N:** And here you go! Look, it didn't even take me a month to update, haha. Thanks to all of those who stuck with this story through the long period of inactivity, it made me smile, and thanks to those who reviewed. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

* * *

A Wasted Effort

* * *

Donatello screamed in despair as he watched the blade make its decent on Mikey. He squeezed his eyes shut, not able to watch his baby brother have his head split open. Don took a chance at opening his eyes again however, when a reverberating shot rang through his ears and echoed around the buildings.

Kisho jumped back as the blade of his naginata loudly made contact with a high-speeding bullet, forcing him to drop his weapon; he glared back towards one of the surrounding buildings. Mikey craned his head to see as well, surprised that something had prevented his untimely demise.

There, standing at the warehouse three buildings down and across from their current position, stood the gang of Purple Dragons that the Elite and Leo had been sent to take care of. Each of them held high-powered rifles, and it would be impossible to determine who had fired the first shot.

Kyoshi momentarily turned his attention away from Raph and glared up at the gang members. Ichiro and Ryuji, likewise, glared at the gang and took a few steps backwards towards their comrades. Leonardo slightly loosened his grip on his brother and readjusted his blank expression towards the gang, which was immediately replaced by a threatening scowl.

Ichiro stood side by side with Ryuji in front of the parties who had temporarily halted their fight in the background. "There are many of them," he whispered.

Ryuji nodded and whispered back. "We can handle it."

"To try such a thing would be an irreversible mistake on our parts. They are equipped with guns, we are not."

"It never stopped us before."

"We were never caught off guard before."

Ryuji looked at his comrade. "But… Mistress Karai has given us an order to obtain the money that is owed and put these scum back in their place."

"We can't very well do that if we are dead. We retreat for now and deal with it once we have the upper hand."

With a nod, Ryuji watched as the gang members readied their weapons and took aim. "Then we had best move fast."

No sooner than Ryuji had made his statement did the gang begin firing. Ichiro and Ryuji quickly leaped out of the way to create a diversion and create as much confusion as they could.

While his two comrades attempted to draw fire away from he and Kisho, Kyoshi jerked his trident away from Raphael's arm and flipped backwards. However, the gang was not so easily fooled. After only seconds of being deterred by Ichiro and Ryuji, they quickly began firing at the other Elite and the turtles.

As bullets whizzed past their heads, Leo, for reasons unknown to him, instinctively forced Donatello down on the ground and shielded him with his own body. As Don turned his head and locked his surprised gaze with Leo's, he saw that Leo's eyes held nothing but pure amazement himself; Leo had no idea why he was attempting to protect this ninja. They were both swiftly brought out of their stupor by a shout from Mikey as he and Kisho both scrambled away from their current location in an attempt to take cover from the bullets raining down on top of them. The turtle and Elite found shelter behind a large assortment of cinder blocks and winced as a few bullets penetrated through, gradually getting closer and closer to their hiding positions.

Ichiro and Ryuji dove into the gang members and immediately began fighting, doing anything within their power to stop the attacks. Raphael took cover inside one of the other warehouses and from there, searched frantically for his brothers' locations. He soon spotted Mikey and raced from the building towards his brother. In the blink of an eye, he was at Mikey's side.

"You ok?"

Mikey nodded and looked at his leg.

Raph winced and quickly checked it. "It don't look too bad… we'll get it patched up. Where's Don and Leo?"

"They were fighting by the crates over there," Mikey pointed in the general direction.

Raph peered out over the cinder blocks and spotted his two brothers, a surprised expression taking hold on his face at the sight of Leo shielding Don from any oncoming bullets. He quickly wiped the surprise from his mind, for now just thankful that neither one of them had been hit…yet. Raph looked back at Mikey and then at Mikey's other side, where Kisho was seated a short distance away.

He watched the Elite carefully. "We gotta jet while those Elite got the Dragon goons distracted."

"But what about Donnie and Leo?"

"I'll come back for them."

"Not by yourself! Raph, I'm fine. I can walk, look," The minute Mikey put pressure on his leg it buckled, sending him back down on the pavement.

"Yeah, that's obvious," Raph sighed and pulled one of Mikey's arms around his shoulders. "It'll be fine. I'll just get ya away from here and then I'll come back. Now," Raph peered over the cinder blocks again. "We just gotta wait until those boneheads give us an opening."

Without warning, a chunk of the cinder block fortress crumbled into a pile of rubble; they had been put under too much strain from the shootings. Raph immediately darted into the shadows and returned to his former hiding place in a separate warehouse, Mikey in tow.

Kisho followed suit, ran towards a separate warehouse and darted inside into the shadows. He felt around the walls curiously. "This should provide enough support until Ichiro and Ryuji give me an opening and I can assist my comrades."

His confidence immediately wavered as his nose picked up on a distinct smell. Kisho carefully looked around the building and, to his horror, spotted several cans of gasoline stacked one on top of the other around the building. He slowly backed himself into the center of the room and raced for the door. Unfortunately, a handful of Purple Dragons had spotted his entrance and, consequently, started firing towards the building. Immediately realizing what they were doing, Ichiro and Ryuji fought harder and fiercer, killing anyone in reach of their weapons in a frantic effort to halt their firing. Kyoshi had also joined in the fight, taking it upon himself to guard Ichiro and Ryuji from oncoming attacks while sending out his own attacks whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Much to their dismay, their efforts were in vain as, after a few more shots, the warehouse Kisho was trapped in boomed, emitting a loud explosion and bursting into flames. Everyone, even the opposing side, halted momentarily and watched as the building turned into a raging inferno. This resulted in other buildings around the area also catching flame, spreading the deadly blaze like wildfire. The entire area was smothered in destruction, and the dancing flames swiftly made their way to the center of the dispute.

The Purple Dragons immediately began to flee the scene, so swift that no one had any power to stop them.

Kyoshi stared at the burning building, raging with flames that almost looked as if they were taunting him. He made a mad dash towards the building. "Kisho!"

Ryuji grabbed Kyoshi's arm and pulled him back. "No, Kyoshi!"

"He is in there! We must do something!"

"There is nothing we can do. If we enter we will surely perish."

"We cannot simply leave him! He is one of us!"

Ryuji looked back to Ichiro.

Ichiro hung his head and shook it. "There is nothing we can do. It is too dangerous. I will not risk losing another soldier to save just one."

Kyoshi shook his head in bewilderment and turned back to the blaze, arm still restrained by Ryuji.

Don looked around frantically, still underneath his brother. "Leo! We've got to go! This whole place could blow! There's industrial equipment everywhere!"

Leo's gaze, however, was no longer on his brother. He was staring at the burning building, and upon one glance at the three Elite, realized that Kisho was missing. Upon further inspection of Kyoshi's face, he also realized that Kisho was in that building. Without a second thought, he sprung off of Don and raced for the building.

Don flipped over on his hands and knees and watched Leo leave in a panic. "Leo! No! Come back!"

Leo ignored his cries and kept running. Only then did Raph and Mikey see their brother heading straight for that burning building of death. Eyes wide and mouths agape, they both shouted at once. "LEO!"

Kyoshi watched in awe as Leo swiftly approached the building. He flinched as he witnessed the turtle hurl himself through the side windows and disappear within the building.

Don jumped to his feet and screamed breathlessly. "NO!"

Ichiro and Ryuji watched the events play out before them in surprise. Ryuji shook his head. "The fool. Good riddance. He will no longer be a problem to us."

Ichiro said nothing, just kept his eyes on the building.

Donatello ran as fast as his legs would carry him. The moment he was close enough to leap inside the building after his brother, a second explosion sounded, blasting glass away from the inferno and knocking Don back into a pile of crates in a forceful sweep. He curled up and instinctively covered his head against the raging glass shards, all the while peering out from underneath his arms at the building in horror. "Leo…"

After a few moments, Ichiro shook his head and sighed. "Let us go." He turned around swiftly and raced for the exit from the circle of warehouses. Ryuji complied and pulled a hesitant Kyoshi behind him as they ran when, suddenly, Kyoshi jerked away and took a few small steps back towards the building.

Ryuji ran back up to him and jerked his arm. "Let's go!" When his comrade did not move and, instead, simply stared in pure amazement at the building, his curiosity forced him to also look and, when he did, his face dawned a similar expression.

Ichiro turned around and blinked at seeing what his comrades stared at. Slowly, he made his way back behind the remaining two Elite.

A small shadow could be seen running for one of the blasted windows encased in fire. The shadow got bigger and bigger, until finally a definite shape could be associated with it. However, before anyone could say names, Leonardo launched through the flames, Kisho hunched over his right shoulder, and out of the building. The second his feet hit the ground, he raced towards the Elite. Strained and injured, however, his legs buckled and he painfully tumbled onto the ground in a heap.

Don immediately jumped up and made a mad dash for his brother, but Ichiro, Ryuji and Kyoshi beat him to it, instantly circling around the fallen turtle and their comrade. Ichiro and Ryuji swept down and threw each of Kisho's arms over their shoulders and turned to run.

Ichiro briefly shouted back at Leo and Kyoshi from over his shoulder. "Hurry!"

Kyoshi briefly glanced down at Leo and then shouted back to Ichiro. "He is injured! He cannot walk!"

"Then leave him!" Ryuji shouted back harshly. "One less problem we will be forced to deal with."

Kyoshi blinked in surprise and watched with a growing anger as Ichiro and Ryuji disappeared from the warehouse complex. He looked down at Leo, who was struggling to get back to his feet. In a quick decision, he knelt down beside Leo. "Allow me to help you, kame."

Leo looked back at him with squinted, pain-stricken eyes and nodded slightly through labored breaths. Kyoshi gently, but quickly threw Leo's left arm around his shoulder and helped him back into a standing position. Together, they hastily made their way to the exit from the warehouses.

Donnie screamed for them to stop, but his pleas went unheard as the building let loose another explosion and winded up collapsing into chunks of stone as the fire completely overpowered it. The flames roared, and Donatello knew that he only had mere moments to get out before the fire and any other explosions would ultimately decimate the area. He looked back and watched as Kyoshi led Leo away from the infernal group of warehouses, then glanced back to the warehouse that he knew Raph and Mikey had taken shelter in. He was torn. He could go after Leo, the reason they came out into this hellhole in the first place, or he could go back to Raph and Mikey and make sure they were safe. They could be injured and need his help. What if they couldn't get out in time on their own? At least he knew Leo was alive, but what if something had happened to Raph and Mikey? What if...

The decision was one no brother should have to make, choosing between his family. He frantically looked back and forth, tears brimming his lids, when he realized that Kyoshi and Leo had already disappeared into the night. "No… no wait!" He moved in their general direction and forced himself to stop. He hung his head and let loose a silent sob. "I'm sorry, Leo." In a flash, Don turned around and ran back to the warehouse that harbored Raph and Mikey. When he got there, Mikey was curled in a corner and Raph was pacing across the floor, concealed in the shadows.

Don knelt down next to Mikey and shook his arm, once he did, he was rewarded with a sniff and watched worriedly as Mikey turned his teary eyes on him. "Mikey… Mikey what's—"

Mikey swallowed hard. "Leo… we saw him run…"

Don blinked and looked back towards the shadows where Raph was hiding. He couldn't be certain, but he thought he heard a muffled sniff. Don quickly turned his head back to Mikey and squeezed his arm. "He's not dead. I saw him."

Mikey's eyes widened and Raph immediately walked out of the shadows. Don looked back at him and could almost see a fresh streak of moist green on Raph's cheeks that were marred by dirt. Almost.

Raph watched him closely. "He's alive?" When Don nodded, Raph nearly smiled and brought his hands up in question. "So where is he?"

Don sighed and watched Raph sadly. "With them."

Raph's expression immediately turned to one of surprise with a slight undertone of anger. "What?"

Don swallowed. "He…he jumped out of the building carrying that Elite that got trapped inside. He looked like he was hurt. He collapsed on the ground and the other Elite came up beside him. Two took their friend and then that one with the trident helped Leo up and got him out."

Mikey halfway smiled in relief. However, Raph was obviously furious. "Why didn't you try and stop them?!"

Don cringed. "I…I didn't know if you guys were hurt or not…and we have to hurry and get out of here before—"

"So you just let them take him away?! We had him right there and you just lost him?! How could you do that?!"

"Raph—" Don pleaded, but looked down as his brother stormed past him and walked out of the warehouse.

"Let's move," Raph growled.

With a startled jump, Don got to his feet and pulled Mikey up. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder for support and then ran after Raph, who was already several feet ahead of them.

Mikey watched Don sadly. "Donnie?"

Don didn't answer him. He just kept his head down and ran after Raphael back towards the lair, not even flinching as more explosions rang in the background and fire lit up the night sky.

(TBC)


	13. The Past, the Present and a Promise

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait. I've been having internet issues along with other issues that threatened to rip apart my very sanity, or what's left of it. Anyway, on to the next chapter! We're finishing up with that little flashback Donnie had two chapters ago and taking a small break from all of the death-defying action. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to those who reviewed!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

* * *

**Italics: **Memories

* * *

The Past, the Present and a Promise

* * *

No one spoke the entire way home, and when Raph, Don and Mikey finally did reach the lair, a very agitated, ninety-pound ball of fur called "Splinter" was there to greet them. At the sight of their master waiting for them in the middle of the living room, the three turtles instantly bowed their heads in an apologetic manner; each of them knew they were in deep, real deep, the angry swishing noise of Master Splinter's tail was proof enough of that. Much to their surprise, the old rat did not utter a word. Whether their father's silence was due to relief that his sons were back in once piece, anger because of their rash actions, or perhaps a bit of both, they didn't know, nor were they sure they wanted to know. In their own silent answer, Raph, Don and Mikey each retreated to their rooms without a word or an order from their sensei. Splinter cut his eyes at his sons and watched them disappear behind three doors before retreating to his own room.

Don heaved a heavy sigh and leaned his shell against his door as he closed it. With a soft cough, he rubbed his right hand over his face in despair. Things did not go at all as planned tonight. Now he had to go patch up both of his brothers, one of which would probably deck him as soon as he opened the door.

Don swallowed. "Not that I wouldn't deserve it…"

With another sigh, he moved over to his desk and pulled out their homemade first aid kit. He would help Mikey first; if he went to Raph and Raph _did_ knock him out, Mikey's cut could get infected before he would wake up.

Don groaned in frustration when he didn't find any bandage wraps in the kit.

"Maybe there's still some in the closet…"

With a huff, he slowly walked over to his closet, put his hand on the handle and rested his forehead on the door frame. He shook his head and softly smacked it against the door. The events that played out tonight would forever be sketched into his mind. If anything had gone wrong tonight, well, more wrong than it already was, he could have lost all of his brothers. What if Raph and Mikey didn't make it in time and were caught in the explosions? What if he had never found them in the warehouse? What if Leo didn't make it out of that burning building in time with that Elite in tow? What if the other Elite hadn't helped him?

"Leo..."

Don clinched his fist, lightly grinding his knuckles into the closet door. Would Leo really have killed him? He almost had, he was fighting ruthlessly but there still seemed to be something holding him back. Still, would Leo really kill him? When they met up with him again, would it be the same scenario? Would they all have to fight their own brother in some twisted death match? Would he have to choose between Leo, Raph and Mikey again? Would he have to choose to abandon one brother in order to save his other two? Did he really abandon Leo tonight?

"No, he was safe. Well, as safe as he could be in a situation like this. If I hadn't left then... I mean Mikey and Raph could have been really hurt and..." He grunted and smacked his head against the door again. "Now I'm talking to myself."

With an exasperated sigh, he opened the door and immediately yelped in surprise. A wave of unfinished projects, papers, broken electronics and ninja gear came tumbling out of the over-packed closet. Don jumped back and watched, stupefied, as the mess flowed out of the hole in the wall and piled up in the floor. One last object, a purple, sand-filled stress reliever ball, bounced on top of the mess, rolled down and came to a halt beside the pile at Don's feet, signaling the end of the wave of junk.

Don blinked and looked around at his, now trashed, room. With an angry groan, he got down on all fours and started throwing objects aside in an attempt to get into the closet. Without much choice, he fully submerged himself in the pile, his body almost completely disappearing as he dove through the mess. Every once and a while, his head would pop up and pull something out to see if he had found what he had been searching for, glare at it when he realized it _wasn't _what he was searching for, throw it aside and dig right back in. After nearly six minutes of excavating his belongings, he finally made it to his closet space.

"I know I had bandages around here somewhere."

He tossed a few more items aside in frustration, using both arms as shovels as he tried to clear a path. Suddenly, his movements jerked to a halt. Don swallowed and gazed at a very old white computer monitor with a busted screen, still halfway covered by papers and other debris. Carefully, he gently cleaned off the monitor as if it were the most fragile object in the world. He ran a hand over it sadly and brushed the dust away from the top.

"Heh." He shook his head and smiled sadly, gazing at his distorted reflection in the cracked, glass screen.

* * *

_A ten-year-old Donatello huffed and puffed as he tried to slide the huge monitor off his table. "I just…want you…to move…over here!" He grunted again as he struggled to get a handhold. "Come on. Be a nice computer and—" _

_Don yelped as the heavy-set monitor slipped from his grasp and crashed on the floor beside him, sending_ _glass shards spraying across the floor._

_Don's eyes widened in immediate horror. "Oh no…my computer!" _

_He reached down and tried to pick the heavy object back up, which was nearly twice the size he was, and gasped in pain when his hand slipped into a sharp piece of jagged glass poking out from the screen. When he jerked his hand back, the glass shard snapped free from the monitor and remained stationary in the young turtle's hand. Don watched with teary eyes as blood started to seep around the glass. He turned back to his broken monitor, biting his lip in an effort to control his emotions. With a slight whimper, he slid down on his knees and clutched his injured hand, softly sniffing. _

_It was at that moment he heard a knock on his door. _

"_Donnie? Are you ok?"_

_Don's eyes widened in surprise. It was Leo… no! He was going to get in so much trouble! He had hoped no one would have heard. What was he going to do? _

"_I'm fine."_

_Don bit down harder on his lip when he heard Leo ask his next question: "Can I come in?"_

_The young turtle looked at the computer monitor and back to the door, then to his hand. It hurt and now his computer was broken. He could feel those unwanted tears well up in his eyes. _

"_If…if you want…"_

_No matter how much he wished that Leo **didn't **'want,' sure enough, Leo walked through the door. _

"_Donnie, what happened?"_

_Donatello watched from his bowed head as his brother tried to maneuver around the glass shards in his attempt to reach him. His face heated up in embarrassment. _

"_I was trying to move the monitor… I wanted it on the other table so I tried to pick it up by myself…"_

_He watched as Leo glanced down at the white monitor that was well over half the size of the young turtle. With a frown, he looked back at Don sadly. _

"_I would have helped you."_

"_I didn't want to bother you." He sniffed again._

_Leo looked around. "Hang on just a sec, ok?" _

_Before Don could answer, Leo ran out of the room and returned with a broom and dustpan. Don watched in surprise and a growing sadness as Leo swept up the glass shards and secluded them all in the dustpan. He shouldn't be doing this. It was Don's mess; he would clean it up. _

_When Leo was finished, he knelt down in front of Don and looked down at his hand that he was holding onto so protectively. "Did you get hurt?"_

_Don sniffed again and opened his hand to reveal the large piece of bloodstained glass sticking out of the middle of his palm. "I tried to pick it back up after I dropped it… and my hand slipped onto the glass and this piece broke off."_

_Leo bit his lip. "Can I see?" _

_Don nodded and allowed Leo to take his hand. He shook nervously as he watched Leo inspect his injury. This was going to hurt. He couldn't help the few tears that escaped his eyes and frowned hard when they started rolling down his cheeks. One splattered on Leo's arm and Don mentally kicked himself. After all, his was a big boy now, and big boys didn't cry because of a little, well, a big piece of glass jutting out of their hand OR because they broke their computer monitor, no matter how much he loved it and how hard it would be to get a new one._

_Leo smiled sadly. "It's ok. I bet I can get this right out. Want me to try?"_

_Don nodded hesitantly and watched his brother. For whatever reason, he felt a bit calmer than he did before. Leo always had a tendency to do that, at least for him anyway. He was no Master Splinter, but when it came to being gentle, Leo was the next best thing. _

_It still didn't mean that this wasn't going to hurt, though. Don whimpered softly when Leo started to pull the glass out. _

"_Almost got it," his brother said, tongue slid out of the corner of his mouth in concentration._

_A few seconds later, Leo had the glass piece out of Don's palm. Don looked at his hand as his brother spoke. _

"_There." _

_Don sniffed and rubbed his beak with the back of his free hand. He just couldn't look at Leo; he was ten years old and crying over a piece of glass! And his computer..._

_He blinked in surprise when he felt Leo tying his blue bandanna around his injured hand. He couldn't help himself as he looked up at, a now mask-less, Leo, smiling sadly and patting his shoulder. His voice was soft and comforting. _

"_Master Splinter will fix it up as good as new when he gets back. I would but… I can't reach the medicine cabinet in the bathroom." He smiled sheepishly._

_Don sniffed again. There was really no point now. He glomped Leo in a hug and cried softly. Leo blinked in surprise, fearing he had hurt his brother, and hugged him back. _

"_Did I hurt you?"_

"_I broke my computer!" Don barely choked out._

_Leo smiled sadly and hugged his brother tightly. "It's ok. Tomorrow we can ask Sensei if we can go find you another one. I'll help you. We can carry it back and you can hook it up again."_

_Don sniffed again and drew his head back to look at Leo. His eyes were still shining with tears but his voice had a hopeful tone. "Really?"_

_Leo smiled back. "Sure. Now, let's get this other one out of here to make way for your new one."_

_Don sniffed again and smiled at Leo, tackling him with another hug. He heard Leo chuckle and, yet again, return the embrace. Still with his arms wrapped around his brother, Don spoke up nervously. _

"_But…Sensei's going to be mad. I mean it's not like we can go to the store for another one and they're hard enough to find and I shouldn't have tried to move it by myself but I thought I could do it so I didn't bother asking anyone and I figured Raph or Mikey would break it anyway, because you know they don't know what 'gentle' means when it comes to breakable stuff, and..." He immediately felt the tears welling back up as he rambled on._

_Leo patted his shell. "It'll be ok."_

_Don shook his head against his brother. "Nu uh. He's going to be so mad at me. It was so stupid. I was so stupid to—"_

_Leo blinked and pulled back, holding Don's arms tightly. "You're not stupid." He interrupted. "You're smart. You're really smart. Smarter than any of us."  
_

_Don looked down and leaned forward, resting his forehead on Leo's left shoulder. Leo half smiled and sighed as he rubbed Don's shell. He looked at the monitor and frowned. _

"_Just this once…"_

_Don blinked and pulled away, looking at Leo in confusion. Leo smiled at him and moved to the monitor. "Help me with this thing."_

_Don cocked his head in confusion and did as he was told. He took one side of the monitor and Leo took the other. When Don winced as the base of the monitor jabbed into his hand, Leo took on more weight from the computer and wrapped his arms as far around it as he could. _

"_Open that door."_

_Don nodded and left Leo momentarily to open the closet door. Together, the two turtles hid the broken monitor in the back corner. Leo shut the door and brushed off his hands. _

"_Ok, this is going to be our little secret." _

_Don looked at Leo in surprise, eyes threatening to bulge out of their sockets. "We're…we're not telling Splinter? Are you feeling ok?"_

_Leo smiled. "Just this once, I think we can handle this on our own. I'm sure you and I can find another computer monitor next time we all go out to scavenge for supplies." He hesitated briefly. "As long as you **swear **to NEVER mention this to Raph and Mikey," Leo added as an afterthought. "Do you have any idea of the nightmare those two could make up if they ever found out about this?"_

_Don shook his head quickly. "I won't say anything, but what do we tell Sensei?"_

"_We'll think of something."_

_Don smiled and hugged Leo again. "Thanks, Leo." His smile broadened as he felt his brother's arms wrap around him. _

"_It will all work out, Donnie. I promise."_

* * *

Don sniffed and rubbed his hand over his mask, now a little damp around the eyes. With a deep breath, he couldn't help the small smile that flitted across his lips. He still remembered the strange looks that Raph and Mikey had given him when he packed up the broken monitor to move to the new lair after the other was destroyed back in the day. He had shared a small secretive smile with Leo that afternoon, and once he was settled in, had hid the old monitor in his new closet, similar to the way it was in his old home.

"Donnie?"

Don turned around to see Mikey standing in the doorway; he hadn't even heard him come in.

"Hey, Mikey. I'm looking for a bandage for that leg, just give me a sec. I know I have some in here somewhere."

Mikey nodded and propped himself on Don's desk, picking through the drawers curiously. After a few seconds, he blinked and held up a roll of bandages.

"These?"

Don stared at his brother for a moment. Of course Mikey would find his sought after object with ease after he had put his room in a state of disarray.

He groaned in annoyance. "Yes." Don kicked his way back out of the mess and towards his brother, stumbling occasionally. "Ok, let's get this cleaned up."

Mikey watched his brother sadly as he silently cleaned the gash in his leg. Without much else to do, he looked around the room, eventually spotting the broken monitor nearly hidden behind the pile of junk.

"You still have that old thing?"

Don nodded quietly.

"Why? The thing's ancient. Heh…I forgot monitors were so big back then. It's like, prehistoric."

Don chuckled slightly and started to wrap Mikey's leg.

Mikey sighed and put a hand on Don's shoulder. "Don't let what Raph said—"

"He was right." Don cut him off.

"But Donnie…"

"There are no 'buts,' Mikey. I should have gone after him. I should have known Raph would get you both to a safe place."

"Stop blaming yourself, bro. I probably would have done the same thing."

Don slowly stopped what he was doing and hesitantly looked up at his brother.

"Yeah. See… the way I figured, at least we know the Elite aren't trying to _physically_ hurt him. They won't let him die. You saw that one actually help Leo get out of there. You didn't know if Raph and I were ok or not, but you knew, even if you had to leave Leo, that he would be taken care of…even if it was by people we didn't like. At least you knew he was alive."

Don watched Mikey with a stunned, but sad, face. He sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders, bowing his head down as he finished Mikey's bandage.

Mikey held onto Don's shoulders with both hands, giving him a firm, but gentle, squeeze of reassurance. "We found him once and we can do it again. We can't give up… and even if Master Splinter's kind of peeved at us right now, he'd tell us the same thing, and Leo would be smacking us upside the head agreeing with him like always. Giving up doesn't suit us."

Don nodded. "You're right."

Mikey smiled and hopped off the desk. "Thanks for the fix up, bro." He looked around the room again and smirked at his brother. "Guess Spring Cleaning took a vacation this year, huh?"

Don stood up and smiled sadly at Mikey.

Mikey winked and opened the door. "Better get it cleaned up. When Leo gets back he's gonna chew you out for having such a dirty room, that is if Master Splinter doesn't beat him to it. Trust me, I know. Heh… speaking of which," Mikey swallowed. "I'll just be going now." With another wink, Mikey left the door cracked open as he left.

Don chuckled sadly and picked up the first aid kit with a sigh. Cleaning would come later, after he tended to his other brother, whether he wanted help or not; Raphael would be more of a challenge than cleaning his, or even Mikey's, room. With a frustrated murmur, Don walked over to his door, opened it and took a step outside before hesitating. He sadly spared one last glance back towards his closet.

"_It will all work out, Donnie. I promise."_

Don swallowed and bawled his hand into a fist. Giving up didn't suit them, never had, never will. "I promise, Leo."

(TBC)


	14. To Know Oneself

**A/N: **Well, we push forward ever faithfully as the story progresses! That or I'm just being strangely optimistic tonight, haha. Back to Leo and the Elite as they cope with the disaster that ensued after their last mission. We'll get back to our other boys in green next chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

* * *

**Italics: **mental thought

* * *

To Know Oneself

* * *

Leo swallowed and bit down on his tongue as Kyoshi pulled on a large piece of glass that found a new home in the turtle's right side. Despite the obvious discomfort, his face no longer registered the pain that he had briefly let shine through his eyes back at the warehouse.

Kyoshi kept his concentration on the glass and gently tugged on it. "You saved my friend's life."

Leo glanced up at Kyoshi. That was the first time he had heard any of them refer to one another as 'friends;' usually the term they preferred was 'comrades.' After all, 'friends' was far more personal than 'comrades.'

Kyoshi gently began to slide the glass piece out. "Thank you."

Leo nodded quietly and allowed his eyes to travel around the room. Kyoshi had managed to get the two of them back safely to Leo's room and had remained there for over an hour to treat Leo's wounds.

"We are cowards."

Leo looked back at Kyoshi's confession in surprise.

Kyoshi glared at his hand as he continued to pull the glass piece out. "We would not even go back to save one of our own."

Leo looked down and back at the man treating his wound. "It can be scary."

"It matters not. Kisho is one of us, our comrade, our friend… our brother." Kyoshi sensed Leo's questioning eyes on him and continued. "Not our real brother, but I learned from a young age that you do not have to have the same blood running through your veins to be family. I have known Kisho since we were boys. I am two years younger. We have been best friends since I was eight years of age."

Kyoshi managed to pull the glass piece out and quickly began to clean out the wound. Leo, however, didn't seem to notice as he continued to listen to Kyoshi's story.

"We both trained in the art of ninjitsu. As we grew older, we heard of the Foot organization. Kisho's father was a prominent member. He was murdered one night and, feeling obligated to honor his father's name, Kisho took his father's place in the organization. I followed in his footsteps. Kisho always looked after me, he took me on as his little brother—his responsibility, and I viewed him as my older brother. We vowed to follow one another and protect each other with our lives. He was quickly promoted to a position as a Foot Elite because of his skill. He secretly trained me, and when Master Shredder saw how skilled I had become, I was also appointed to the position of an Elite warrior." Kyoshi finished cleaning Leo's wound and began to bandage it. "Not long after, we met you…"

Leo blinked and cocked his head. "You met me? But… I've only been here a little over two weeks."

Kyoshi swallowed. "It was some time ago… past the point of your brain's ability to remember. When and how does not matter. What does matter is, although I tried to go in after Kisho, I allowed Ryugi to stop me."

"But you tried."

"I should have pulled away from him. You would have leaped through hell's fire without a second thought if it had been one of your brothers in that building."

Leo furrowed his brow. "My bro—"

"If you were to have brothers," Kyoshi quickly corrected, mentally cursing himself for his mistake. "If you had brothers, you would have done anything in your power to save them. It is in your nature. You proved that by leaping in to save mine, risking your own life."

Leo looked down at his bleeding leg. It had been burned in the fire and had blistered terribly. "Kisho is my friend."

Kyoshi watched Leo. "Yes, and someday… I hope I can be as honorable as you." When Leo looked back up at him in surprise, Kyoshi quickly continued to wrap his leg. "I have used herbal medicines, things that will dull the pain and _should _heighten the healing process."

Leo nodded. "Thank you, Kyoshi."

Kyoshi blinked at Leo, stunned that he had used his name. His comrades used each others names, yes, but the thought of the turtle doing it caught him off guard.

Leo instantly saw the shock and discomfort as Kyoshi tensed. "I'm sorry, I just assumed—"

"No," Kyoshi shook his head. "Do not be sorry. I am honored that you see fit to call me by my name." He inclined his head in a bow. "Leonardo."

Leo half smiled and bowed his own head.

"You are one of us now, Leonardo…" He hesitated and looked at Leo. "Is it permissible if I call you by your name?"

"Of course."

Kyoshi nodded and continued wrapping Leo's leg. "I wanted to make certain. Mistress Karai holds you in high regards." His hands slowed. "You hold command over Foot soldiers, and I also believe that you hold some manner of command over us as well, though Ichiro and Ryugi have seen fit not to inform you." He added softly. Kyoshi sighed and shook his head. "They do not like change and are wary of you."

Leo nodded. "I noticed. I wasn't aware that I held any command whatsoever, but given our current situation, perhaps it's best if I go on assuming that I do not, at least until someone else brings it up. Things are tense enough as it is between myself, Ichiro, and Ryugi. The last thing we need is to be fighting each other."

His new friend looked as if he were going to argue for a moment. After all, he shouldn't have to give up an opportunity to take command just to keep the peace. Despite this, Kyoshi realized that Leonardo had a point, and Ichiro was not one to anger right now. Of course, neither was Mistress Karai. If she were told about the unrest that had settled on the group, would she do anything about it? Master Shredder would have surely punished anyone who did not follow his orders, and Mistress Karai had appointed Leonardo with the power he seemed inclined to refuse. However, Kyoshi was no longer certain he wanted to involve Mistress Karai any more than he had to. After all, Shredder was their true master, not that woman, and Shredder had seen potential in Leonardo from the very beginning. Then again, Shredder had also taken it upon himself to slay Leonardo and his family once Leonardo refused to ally himself with the Foot. All of that seemed like such a long time ago, and things had only gotten worse, far more confusing than he ever thought possible. Even if Kyoshi was still loyal to Shredder, did it really matter any more? Shredder was gone, after all. Whether or not the things he and his brothers did in the past were right or wrong, now he had the ability to make his own decisions. In a sense, he was free. However, this was the only life he had ever known. Could he truly just walk away from it all with the hopes of doing the "honorable" thing?

"Please forgive me for asking but..." Leo spoke up hesitantly.

Kyoshi looked up when he heard Leonardo speak. Now was not the time to ask himself such questions. He would speak to Kisho later. "Yes?"

I have come across the name Ryugi before in a book that I found here," Leo continued. "If I'm not mistaken, doesn't it mean 'dragon man?'"

Kyoshi stared at the turtle for a moment and nodded. "Yes, it does." He removed his hat and began to unwind the cloth that covered his face.

"Wait…"

Kyoshi halted.

"Didn't Kisho get in trouble for showing me his face? I don't want—"

"It is only fair.," the man reassured him. " As a surrogate family, we have all seen each other's face. Kisho considers you his friend, his ally…and so do I." Kyoshi allowed the red garment to drop from his face. Surprisingly, he resembled Kisho. The two of them could easily pass for biological brothers. He had dark black hair that hung in silky strands below his shoulders. His eyes were deep hazel and his face was tanned and well toned. He was clean-shaven and his eyes held a sense of innocence that seemed very familiar to Leo. Like Kisho, Kyoshi was handsome and fit. "You see me as I am. I owe you dearly for saving Kisho. As not just a comrade seeking to repay a debt, but a friend," Kyoshi bowed his head to Leo. "I pledge to come to your aid if you have need of it. We protect our own."

Leo smiled. "Thank you, my friend." Leo returned the gesture.

Kyoshi finished wrapping Leo's leg and took a spot on a mat in front of him. "As for your previous question, yes, Ryugi's name does translate to the term 'Dragon Man.' I do not know much about Ryugi or Ichiro, I'm afraid. They were members of the Elite long before Kisho or I was. However, based on conversations that I have overheard, Ryugi and Ichiro were friends, like Kisho and myself, during childhood. He was caught in a burning building as a child, I have forgotten why, and his face was scarred. Ichiro rescued him, and from then on, Ryugi pledged his unwavering allegiance and trust to Ichiro. One day when he was unmasked, a group of Foot ninja mentioned that he resembled a dragon. I believe the comment upset him, though you would never be able to tell by his actions, he's a very... stoic person. Ichiro was greatly angered and punished the Foot soldiers that spoke against Ryugi." He hesitated. "Those specific Foot soldiers left the organization and haven't been heard from since."

"Based on that story, I would assume that his real name is not 'Ryugi.' Unless he had cruel parents." Leo commented.

"I am honestly not sure. It is quite possible. After all, many Foot members have lives outside of the organization and do not wish to be linked back to the group. Therefore, many of our members do have two names, aliases if you will."

Leo nodded. "That makes sense. And Ichiro? It means 'first born,' right?"

"Yes, it does. Ichiro was the first born of his family, so I am fairly certain that that name is his own. Coincidentally, he was the first recruit of the Elite warriors. We all look to him for guidance. He is more or less the leader of our group. Something like a big brother."

Leo nodded again, his face showing minor confusion as if he was thinking.

Kyoshi swallowed at Leo's expression and cocked his head to the side. "Leonardo?"

Leo blinked and looked at him.

"Are you alright? Are you in pain?"

"…No…" came the hesitant reply. Leo quickly shook his head and focused on Kyoshi once more. "No, it isn't bad. I just… I don't know, feel like something isn't right, but I can't put my finger on it." Kyoshi hid a nervous glance and allowed Leo to continue. "All this talk about protection, brothers… I don't know. I just feel as if… there's something I'm missing. Someone or something that I'm supposed to protect… I just can't remember." Leo swallowed sadly and shook his head once again, replacing it with a small smile. "But such thoughts are foolish. It's probably just a lonely ninja longing for family and someone _to _protect. Nothing more."

Kyoshi felt a strange feeling gnaw at the inside of his stomach. Guilt. This must be how Kisho had felt; this was why he didn't enjoy going through with this plan.

Kyoshi realized that he was on the verge of saying something he would regret later and quickly changed his sentencing. "But you are not alone, Leonardo. You are one of us now. We protect one another."

Leo half smiled and nodded. "Yes." He sighed inwardly. He could trust his friends. This was his family. Why he felt he had someone other than the Elite warriors to protect, he did not know, but no matter how much he tried to dismiss the thought, it had not ceased to plague his brain. Another matter that disturbed him was the way he reacted back at the warehouses. He had protected one of the other turtles. He shielded the one in purple with his own body. Why would he do that? What _made _him do that? And those creatures were supposedly responsible for the death of his family? Right? Or did he have that mixed up now? How was that possible when he looked exactly like them? Was it all a ploy to trick him? Were they sorcerers? His reason for existence seemed clouded, and the explanations that had been supplied to him seemed to be crumbling before his very eyes. None of it made any sense. Of course, by reality's standards, neither did he. Still, there were so many questions and not nearly enough answers. However, Leo decided to ask the question which he felt was most important at the present time.

"How is Kisho?"

Kyoshi nodded. "I believe he will be alright. If you like I can go check with Ichiro and Ryugi." When he received a nod as an answer, Kyoshi pushed himself to his feet and replaced his facial garment and hat. "I shall return shortly." With a small bow, he left Leo alone in his room.

Leo sighed and studied the floor. _I don't understand… why would I protect that turtle? Why would I risk my life for him? And why… why do they seem so concerned for me? They are very good actors to keep this up for so long. None of this makes any sense._

"They aren't actors," croaked a familiar voice.

Leo growled at the voice and glared up. He knew that voice, and it was certainly the last voice on earth he wanted to hear. His glare fixated on his double who was seated on the mat in front of him, the same likeness that he had seen weeks ago when he first joined the Elite after... after what? What was he missing? Something happened before he joined with the Elite. He had seen this other version of himself before...

"They aren't actors," it repeated.

Leo hissed at his double. "Leave me alone."

"You've got to snap out of this! They're your family!"

"I don't have a family!"

"You do… the Elite have tricked you. They are our enemy!"

Leo snarled and clenched his fists. "Why do you keep showing up? Stay away from me!"

"Just pretend that I'm the intelligence that you've seemed to have lost. Your conscience, your intuition, whatever you want to call me. My point is that there are too many holes in the story they've told you. You know it. It doesn't add up, this whole situation doesn't add up." The double shook his head. "It's not too late. The future has already been altered. You were never meant to ally yourself with the enemy. You were not supposed to grow attached. You were not—"

Leo felt as if his mind were being ripped apart. "Go.Away."

Leo's mirrored imaged watched him, unimpressed by his aggression. "Use your intuition, your gut feeling, you used to be so good at it. None of this adds up. Something's off and you know it, you can feel it deep down. Deep inside your soul, your heart, you know that this is all a lie."

Leo screamed angrily. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" In a swift movement, Leo launched a tanto in his double's direction.

The double disappeared, but his raspy voice lingered in the air. "Continue on the path you are choosing, and you will have all eternity to be alone…"

Leo clenched his hands over his head and squeezed his eyes shut at the monstrous headache that began to course through his head. His limbs shook as the migraine pulsated through his senses, edging behind his eyes and shooting needle like pains through his nervous system. His skin was on fire and his head felt like it would explode any moment. He was unable to prevent his eyes from watering and a soft whimper escaped his lips. Only then did it register that a pair of hands were holding his shoulders. He continued to shake as he looked up at a hazy figure through squinted eyes. His voice shook weakly.

"R-raph?"

The figure seemed to freeze, then shook its head and spoke softly. "Leonardo, it is alright."

Leo swallowed hard and tried to place the voice. It sounded so familiar. He stared at the figure and noticed that another figure was kneeling behind it. They were so blurry. Leo took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. The pain began to subside and, slowly, so did his shaking. With another deep breath, he looked back at the two figures in front of him.

Kisho held onto Leo's shoulders supportively and Kyoshi was knelt behind Kisho, watching with concern.

Kyoshi spoke up softly. "Are you alright, Leonardo?"

Leo swallowed and nodded his head. "Yes…yes, I'm alright." Truth be told, he didn't know if he was alright or not. If anything, he thought he was losing his mind. He blinked a few times, looked at Kisho and smiled weakly. "You're alright."

Kisho nodded and squeezed Leo's right shoulder. "I am fine thanks to you, my friend."

Leo studied Kisho and noticed the blood-stained bandage on his head. Other than that, he seemed relatively unharmed aside from a few minor burns on his arms.

"He has a mild concussion, but other than that, he should be fine," Kyoshi voiced softly from his place beside Kisho. " Are you sure you're alright?"

Leo nodded, wincing slightly at the, now, small headache. "Yes. Just a migraine. It's leaving now. I don't remember having these so badly before."

Kisho and Kyoshi shared a nervous glance with one another and turned back to Leo. Kisho patted the turtle's arm. "Get some rest. We have another patrol in a week's time and a mission in two weeks. We will use our time wisely to train."

Leo nodded, positioned himself on his mat and closed his eyes.

Kisho and Kyoshi slowly stood and blew out the candles in the room before leaving and softly sliding the door shut behind them. Kisho kept his hand on the door and looked down.

Kyoshi turned his eyes to Kisho and spoke softly. "Raph? Who does he mean?"

"I believe he means Raphael, his brother," Kisho answered quietly. "The one who wears the red bandanna."

Kyoshi shook his head. "This isn't right." When Kisho said nothing, Kyoshi continued. "Kisho, this is not fair, not to mention dishonorable. To do this to him is barbaric. Inhumane."

Kisho sighed and nodded. "I know." He turned to Kyoshi. "But there is nothing—"

"There is plenty we can do! We can stop this. We can tell him everything and—"

"Bite your tongue," Kisho retorted angrily.

Kyoshi immediately fell silent and stared at Kisho.

Kisho sighed and looked apologetically at Kyoshi. "We cannot risk being heard. Come," Kisho turned and walked into his own room.

Kyoshi followed obediently and watched as Kisho slid the door shut behind him. Once sure that they were alone, Kyoshi continued sadly. "Kisho. He is your friend. Do you really wish to follow through with this?"

Kisho shook his head and lit a candle. "No. I do not, and I have been wracking my brain in an attempt to muster some way of informing him of the truth, but it is too dangerous for one of us to tell him. We could be slain for treason."

"He is willing to risk his life for us, should we not be for him?"

Kisho looked back at Kyoshi. "Yes, and I am." With a sigh, he sat down on a mat and motioned Kyoshi to do the same. Once his friend was seated in front of him, he continued. "When I was first assigned to protect Leonardo, I was furious. He was our enemy, a deadly enemy. A freak of nature that was responsible for having a hand in our master's death. Now… now I call him friend. Now I call him a brother. I am willing to give my life for the turtle and will do what I can to protect him." He shook his head in mild frustration. "It does not make sense. A soldier follows orders and does not allow his emotions to get in the way. Now… I feel I am torn between my soul and my duty."

Kyoshi looked down and then back at Kisho. "I understand, Kisho. I remember the battles we endured with the kame and his family, and I thought nothing more of them than to be our enemies. Remember, it was the final blow of my trident that knocked Leonardo off the roof that Christmas so long ago." He hesitated a moment and watched Kisho. "Leonardo and I were speaking of the meaning of names as I cared for his wounds. Do you know what yours means?"

Kisho nodded. "Yes… 'one who knows his own mind.'"

Kyoshi nodded slightly. "And do you, my brother?" When he received a confused stare from Kisho, Kyoshi continued. "You follow orders, you are duty bound and you are a formidable warrior; you are the ideal soldier. But what about yourself? Kisho, I see you as my brother, so hear me as a brother and not as another soldier. Orders are not always meant to be followed, especially when they dictate us to go against our own sense of honor. Our actions in the past... they were dishonorable, I see that now, no matter how many times I've tried to rationalize them. Our master…was a tyrant, a bloodthirsty tyrant. I did not want to believe it myself, for I know that given another chance, I would probably follow down the same path as I already have, but we must face the facts. What we did to Leonardo and his family in the past was dishonorable, and what we do to him now is as well. We call him friend, we call him ally, we call him brother and yet we force him to endure such a dastardly deed as this and do not wave a hand to help him. That is not the way of Bushido. Do not listen to your orders, Kisho. Listen to yourself. Follow your own mind. Recognize it, listen to it and live by it."

Kisho stared at Kyoshi in pure awe. After a long, uncomfortable silence, his mouth turned into a small, relaxed smile. "My younger brother has surpassed me in knowledge and honor. Though you are quiet in nature, you show wisdom beyond your years. Your parents would be proud, Kyoshi."

Kyoshi smiled sadly and nodded. "Thank you..." He chuckled softly. "Perhaps we have both grown soft. The tur—" He shook his head slightly. "Leonardo has had a strange effect on both of us. Never would I have believed myself to question our judgment and actions."

"Perhaps we needed an outsider's view. I seriously doubt either of us would question ourselves had we not willingly befriended Leonardo. Mistress Karai believes her plan to be full-proof, and yet what she has done will surely be the end of her. His brothers will stop at nothing to find him and bring him back. Even as we speak, Leonardo is breaking free, and I do not feel inclined to inform our comrades about it lest they increase their efforts to control him."

"Nor do I."

Kisho took a deep breath. "Even so, although I believe he has the strength and will power to break free on his own, he should not bear that burden. Aside from that, if anyone were to find out that he is fighting the control he is under it would be disastrous, especially for him and his family. I fear we are running out of time. " Kisho stared at the floor, a small, menacing glare making its way to the surface as if he were ready to go into battle. "I will tell him. I do not want you to be involved with this, Kyoshi. I do not wish you to be in danger."

"But—"

"No. I shall handle it. Allow Leonardo to rest and I will talk with him after he has healed sufficiently."

With a hesitant nod, Kyoshi complied. "Then I shall try and keep Ichiro and Ryugi busy so you may speak with him when the time comes." After a few moments of silence, the youngest spoke softly, barely over a whisper. "He shall never forgive us…"

Kisho gave him a questioning look. "Ichiro?"

"No…" Kyoshi shook his head sadly. "Leonardo."

Kisho smiled sadly. "What we have done should not be forgiven, but at least we will set him free and live with the knowledge that he will live and be back with his family, as it should be." He took a deep breath. "I do not believe fate intended two enemies such as ourselves and Leonardo to become such friends, willing to risk their lives for one another. It is not natural… and yet I would not change it. We will make things right again."

"Yes." Kyoshi nodded and stood up. "I will go report to Ichiro and Ryugi that yours and Leonardo's wounds were not serious and that we will be ready for the next mission as planned."

Kisho bowed his head to Kyoshi and watched as his friend bowed and left his room. Kisho took a deep breath and ran his hand along his face. Unfortunately, their situation and desires were far more difficult and dangerous than either of them wanted to admit. He sat back down on his mat and stared at the wall in front of him with concentration and determination etched across his face, vaguely listening in on the conversations of other Foot soldiers as they made their way down the hall to separate dojos. As the men continued on their way, silence engulfed the room once more, leaving Kisho to his thoughts and struggles to develop a plan to set Leonardo free and keep he and his friend alive in the process.

(TBC)


	15. The Disappearing Act

**A/N: **Sorry for the gap of time between the last update and this one. My life became very hectic very quickly. In any case, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and that it was worth the wait. Fair warning: I know that Raph and Leo fights have been completely overdone, but I thought that it was necessary for this chapter seeing as how I wanted to show a sliver of Raph's struggle with the situation after that chapter regarding how Don felt. Don't worry, there will be more Mikey inserts later on as well. I'm doing my best to keep the spotlight fairly even between the guys right now.

Now, another warning: I will be moving this weekend and it's a pretty big move. Because of that, my internet provider won't be able to set up my net in the new place until August 4th at best. So, it will probably be another week-and-a-half to two weeks before this is updated again and I apologize for that. In the meantime, I'll keep writing so that when I do get the net back I can post.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy :-)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

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**Italics: **past memories

* * *

The Disappearing Act

* * *

The lair had been nothing more than a quiet dungeon for over a week now. Tension was thick in the air, and the only ones who had made any verbal contact with one anyone were Don and Mikey. Raph had allowed Don to fix his arm up, but the two hadn't spoken since. Splinter had spent the entirety of his time in his room in constant meditation; no one had seen him for days. Raph saw fit to seclude himself in his room and only came out at night to train and release his frustrations on the punching bag, which Don repeatedly had to repair each night. Don and Mikey were usually in Don's lab, discussing their options and trying to desperately devise a plan to get their older brother back.

Mikey sighed and beat his head on Don's lab table.

Don pinched the space between his eyes and crumpled up yet another set of plans. "I don't know what to do…"

Mikey continued to beat his head as he spoke. "It would help us if we had a little help from our other brother and father… ow." He sighed and allowed his head to finally take a rest on the table.

"Nice observation, Mikey, but I don't see it happening." Don sighed and rested his head in his hands, elbows propped on his workbench.

"Yeah, well… I know Master Splinter's probably doing some of his Master Splinter, weird, voodoo ritual stuff that will somehow end up helping us in the long run."

Don quirked an eye ridge at Mikey's creative description.

"But," Mikey continued, "Raph secluding himself in his room isn't helping anything. He's been moping around for over a week while we've been busting our shells trying to think of a way to get Leo back! At this rate we'll never get him back!"

Don swallowed and stared at the table. "Don't remind me, Mikey."

Meanwhile, unknown to his brothers, Raph collapsed on his hammock. Black circles etched their way around his eyes as his body shook from exhaustion. Instead of actually being in his room during the day like everyone believed, Raph had actually taken to scouting every inch of the city, coming back every night to get in a couple hours of sleep, train some more and then head right back out to continue his search. He thought that he might have some luck looking for clues during the day since no one would expect it, but he had yet to come up with anything; it was like Leo and the Elite had just disappeared. He knew the simple solution to the problem: head to Foot HQ. He also knew that if he went alone, he might as well be signing his death warrant and offering himself for genetic research. However, he wouldn't deny that he had to force himself back into his room far too many times to count to keep himself from doing just that; not taking immediate action was not one of his strong points.

Raph exhaled and rolled over onto his shell. With a heavy sigh, he let his left arm rest over his forehead as he stared at the ceiling.

"One more week and it'll be a month…" He sighed again and rubbed his eyes. "Three weeks and nothin'… three full weeks of searchin' for anything and nothin'! No clues, no leads, no ANYTHING!"

He slung a sai towards his left and didn't even flinch as he heard it crash into a mirror on his dresser, or what was left of the mirror—the thing had been cracked for years. He calmed himself a bit and smacked his head against his pillow.

"How am I supposed to find ya when I don't even know where ta start?"

He swallowed and looked over at the shattered mirror that had sent glass shards scattering across the floor. Raph heaved himself off his bed, walked over to the broken glass and began to clean it up, throwing the pieces into a wastebasket. He picked up a larger piece and stared into its reflection.

* * *

"_Yer such a suck up!"_

"_I am not!"_

"_Yes you ARE! You always try ta get me in trouble!" A nine-year-old Raphael stood in his brother's face, his fists brought up to his waist, ready for a fight._

"_Raph, you could have been killed!" Leo waved his hands in frustration._

"_I woulda been fine!"_

"_Last time I checked, showing yourself to humans was a bad idea. You know what Sensei said. Sensei said we have to live in—"_

"_Sensei said! Sensei said! Yer such a robot! Just stay out of my way, Leo!" Raph whipped around and headed for the door, intending to sneak back outside where all the fun was._

_Leo glared and caught his arm. "You're not going anywhere."_

_Raph growled and shot a death glare at his brother. "Let go of my arm."_

"_Raph, you can't go topside. Splinter said to stay here. It's too dangerous. What if something happens?"_

_Raph growled and launched himself on top of his brother, pinning him to the floor. "Why can't ya leave me alone?!" He swung a punch towards his brother's face. Leo quickly dodged it and Raph smacked his fist against the floor with a yelp. Leo slid out from under his brother and blocked just in time when Raph sent out a back kick towards his plastron. _

_Leo grunted as the force from Raph's kick slid him back a few centimeters on the stone floor. "Raph, stop!"_

"_I hate you!" Raph jumped on Leo again and instantly began pounding into his brother's plastron. "Ya think yer so much better than me! Always practicin' and suckin' up to Sensei! Who's better now, huh?!" He punched Leo hard against the face on one cheek and then the other. _

_Leo threw up his arms in an attempt to block himself. After two punches he quickly snatched Raph's arms and flipped him over his head, never letting go of his arms as he flipped backwards and landed on top of Raph, arms pinned to his brother's sides._

_Raph struggled to get free. "Let me go! I hate you! I hate you!"_

"_How many times have I heard that before?"_

"_Well it's true!" Raph managed to wriggle an arm free and lashed out at his brother. _

_Leo quickly jumped off of Raph and backed away. "You're such a hothead!" He clenched his fists at his sides and stared his brother down. "I'm not letting you go back out there, even if it means I have to go get Master Splinter."_

_Raph flipped over on his hands and knees and glared at his brother. "Yer such a tattletale! You're not perfect so stop acting like you are!"_

_Leo sighed, turned around and made his way back to his room._

"_See?! You won't even argue back! Why do you have to be the perfect son, huh? Fine! Walk away and leave me alone! I wish you'd just disappear and never come back!"_

_Leo halted a moment at his door, walked into his bedroom and silently shut the door behind him._

_Raph stared after him angrily and got back up to his feet. With a soft grunt, he ran to his room and slammed the door behind him._

* * *

Raph stared sadly at the piece of glass and roughly threw it into the basket, ignoring the loud shatter as it broke into more pieces. Fights like that were a usual occurrence for them at that age; they both said things they didn't mean in the past. Raph had apologized a week later for what he did, but that didn't stop him from saying the same thing or something similar to that a few days afterwards on more than one occasion. He knew that Leo knew that he didn't really hate him, no matter how many times he may have said it. Sure, the first time he said it it had upset his older brother, but as time went on Leo just learned to take it in stride and blamed it on anger and frustration. Leo was no angel himself; he had a bad temper too, he was just better at controlling it, but he was still capable of throwing a few out of control punches and making hurtful accusations. Even so, the truth didn't help to ease Raph's guilt, no matter how many times he declared the fights never bothered him.

With a soft grunt, Raph finished cleaning up the mess and slid the wastebasket beside the door. He groaned and stretched, cracking his neck and the joints in his shoulders a few times. With a sigh, he walked out of his room and headed for Don's lab. He knew his brothers thought that he hadn't been doing anything but sitting around in his room, and he knew they had been working hard on trying to find some way to get into Foot HQ undetected and get Leo back. He also knew that they weren't very happy with him at the moment. Shell, he wasn't very happy with himself either. After the warehouse incident, he hadn't been particularly brotherly, especially to Don. He would have to make sure he apologized to the brainiac later when he was sure they would have some privacy.

Raph tapped on the lab door with the back of his fist. "Yo, Donnie?"

Mikey looked at the door with a slight hint of annoyance in his eyes while Don got up and opened the door, squinting at the light that flooded through the opening. "Raph? What's up?"

"Listen… lately I've been… gah, can I come in there?"

Don blinked and opened the door all the way, waving his arm at Raph as a signal to come in. After his brother was inside his lab, he shut the door and went back to his desk, leaving Raph standing alone by the door—isolated, set apart from his two brothers.

Mikey huffed and rested his chin on his hand, left elbow propped on his knee. "If it isn't Mr. Sunshine himself."

Raph cut his eyes at his brother. "Lay off, Mikey."

"Why?" Mikey sat up straight and faced his brother. "Is it the sarcasm? Would me saying the truth make it that much easier for you to go back into hiding? Or maybe you've just given up. After all, it's been about, what, three weeks? At least you lasted two before you gave up."

"Mikey…" Raph growled slightly, a small undertone of threat laced his voice.

Don shook his head at Mikey, a usual hint that his brother took to stop running his mouth, but this time Mikey ignored the hint.

"Or is it that you thought you'd come in here and act like you haven't been hiding in your room feeling sorry for yourself for the past week and try to take charge again?"

"Scouting the city."

Mikey blinked. "Huh?"

Raph growled at him. "I haven't been hiding in my room for the past week. I've been scouting the city during the day lookin' for any leads I thought might be helpful in, first, _finding_ Leo and, second, changing him back to normal. Is that ok with you, or should I have stayed out all night too and ignored the practice sessions I forced myself into after gettin' about two hours sleep each night to make sure I can keep my own against anyone we have ta fight?" He ground out quickly, throwing the restraint he was going to try to keep out the window. He supposed the exhaustion wasn't doing anything to help his patience or his temper.

Mikey started and for the first time he noticed the black rings around his brother's eyes; they could be seen through the turtle's mask. "Why didn't you tell—"

Raph huffed. "But I guess I'm being selfish here, huh? I certainly haven't been trying hard enough ta find Leo. Tell ya what, I'll just go back out and _sulk_ in my room while you work yer shell off on workin' out a way to get Leo back." With grunt, Raph whipped around on his heel and marched to the door. The moment he had his hand on the handle, another green hand landed on his and stopped him. When he looked to see who had stopped him, Don was standing next to him.

Don stared at his brother sadly. "We're sorry. We're all a little on edge right now." He squeezed his brother's hand slightly and then slid it away. "Did you find anything while you were out looking?"

Raph glared at Mikey once more and turned fully to face Don, his voice less harsh and cynical as it had been. "Nah." He sighed and rubbed his right hand over his face. "Nothin' that we don't already know. I'm tellin' ya, Don, I searched every inch of the city and I'm still no closer to learnin' anything new than I was before. No leads, no sightings, not even a footprint. It's like they all just disappeared."

Don sighed and nodded. "It was a good idea. Maybe we'll find something soon."

"Heh," Raph took a deep breath and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "What about you? Any luck on, well, anything?"

Don shrugged. "There's good news and bad news."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? And why does it make me nervous every time I hear you say that?"

Don smiled sadly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, good news is we know how to get into Foot Headquarters."

Raph nodded and cocked his head when he noticed his brother didn't seem too happy. "I thought that was a good thing?"

"It is…"

"…And I feel a 'but' comin' on, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We know how to get in undetected, maybe even find the hall that they're keeping Leo on… but if and when we do find him—"

"_When_." Raph quickly corrected.

Don nodded his head and smiled slightly at being corrected. "Right, _when_ we do find him, I have absolutely no clue how we're going to get him to cooperate and leave with us, let alone get out of the building before the Elite and any Foot soldiers attack."

Raph heaved a sigh and nodded. "At least we're one step ahead than we were before." He patted Don's left shoulder. "Good work, Donnie."

Don half-smiled and lightly patted Raph's right soldier. "Why don't you get some rest? I can look over these schematics again and see what I can come up with."

"Huh?"

"You look about dead on your feet."

"No." Raph shook his head. "Knowin' our stroke of dumb luck, the minute I stop lookin' for something is the minute some lead or obscure clue will show up and I'll miss it."

"Raph, when we do go after Leo, you can't afford to be as worn out as you are now. Even if you have been keeping up with training, if you're as tired as you are right now, it won't take much to knock you off your feet."

Raph immediately attempted to argue this point but Don quickly cut him off. "And you know I'm right, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not. Just take it easy for a day, ok? Mikey can scout if you're that worried about it."

Raph's eyes widened in disbelief. "Mikey?!"

Mikey's lips drew together in a pout, insulted by his brother's disbelief.

Don chuckled softly. "Yes. He's perfectly capable of scouting the city for clues. He won't take it lightly, not something like this."

Raph bit his lip and glanced over at Mikey.

Mikey crossed his arms. "I've scouted the city before, you know. It's not like it's my first time. And how could you even think I would joke around when it's our brother at stake here?" Mikey turned his head away from his brother. "Besides, if I had known that's what you were doing I would have been right out there with you," he added quietly.

Raph's hard expression softened slightly. "Guess I should have told you guys."

"Duh."

"Yeah, yeah I know, I know, ok?" Raph hesitated. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I guess."

Mikey looked back at his brother with a lopsided grin. "No sweat. We're used to you being stupid by now." He ignored the warning growl from his red-banded brother. "Now go to bed like Dr. Don said."

"But—"

Don watched Raph solemnly. "Hey, I know I'm not Leo, but you know he would tell you the same thing, and as much as you would fight it if it _was_ him telling you—"

"Especially if it was him," Mikey added.

"You know that sooner or later you'd agree to it," Don finished.

Raph hesitated a moment, sighed, dropped his head and shook it slightly. "Ok…" He quickly snapped his head back up and addressed Don, seeming as if he were giving an order than taking one himself. "But just a quick one! Just a short little cat nap or somethin'."

Don chuckled and nodded. "Whatever you say, Raph."

Raph nodded. "Good. I'll go… take a nap then." With a yawn, he opened the door and ventured out of the lab. A few seconds later, another door could be heard closing and the lair went silent again.

Mikey stared at the shut door and chuckled sadly. "He's always gotta have the last word, doesn't he?"

Don half laughed and nodded. "You know," he turned to face his younger brother. "You should probably apologize to him when he wakes up."

"Heh… yeah, I know." Mikey nodded. "I will."

Once in his room, Raph plopped down in his hammock with a soft groan and immediately yawned as it started to swing back and forth. He rolled over on his side and stared at the glass shards that now filled his wastebasket to the brim.

"_Walk away and leave me alone! I wish you'd just disappear and never come back!"_

Raph swallowed and sighed heavily. "The one time you decide to listen to me..." He huffed. "Leo, you're such a pain in the shell. You get under my skin even when you're not here." He rolled over so his shell was turned to the waste basket. With another sigh, Raph frowned and stared down at the threads on his hammock sadly. "You'd better be ok... I promise, if it's the last thing I do, we'll get you back and I'll make those pieces of crap pay for doing this to you." He repeated his promise to himself until he finally slipped into his dreams' greedy hands.

Back in the lab, Mikey shifted, stood up and stretched. "Ok, I'm gonna go topside and see if anything turns up."

"Be careful." Don warned, concern shining in his eyes. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Dude, you're the one who just got finished telling Raph that I capable of doing this, remember? Have a little faith, bro."

"I do, I'm sorry, I'm just..." Don signed. Mikey put a hand on his brother's shoulder and gave it a solid squeeze of reassurance. Don smiled and chuckled half-heartedly. "Just be careful."

"You know it, bro." Mikey winked and ran out the door.

Don stretched his tight muscles and plopped down in his chair, allowing it to twirl slightly at the sudden movement. He closed his eyes and let his chair spin him around in a slow circle. When it came to a stop, he was facing his desk again along with the mountain of paperwork.

"Ok, Leo…" He rolled his chair in towards the desk and pulled out a stack of blueprints. "Here's Foot HQ, and if this big room is where Karai stays, which I'm assuming it is…" He tapped his finger on the drawing of the room. "Then… you should be…" He sighed and smacked his head on the desk. "In any of the other 254 rooms that are in that building…"

(TBC)


	16. Foreshadows of an Inevitable Pain

**A/N: **First off, my most sincerest apologies that this chapter took so long to post. As soon as I moved in, the insanity of unpacking immediately took control over my life. I'm still not completely unpacked, no surprise there, but as soon as I had things semi-organized, my modem decided to blow. Then, I started work and had to find the time to go get a new modem. It's been one wild ride after another, but, finally, here is the next chapter.

Despite the long wait and period of Internet inactivity, I have continued writing on this story so, rest assured, it has not been abandoned. I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but it can't be action all of the time, and there is more action coming, believe me. So, until next time, please enjoy and I hope it was worth the wait.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own TMNT, no matter how many times I've wished for it. TMNT is property of those wonderful people at Mirage. So, please do not sue, maim or accuse me of theft! It makes me sad inside :-P

* * *

**Italics: **mental thought

* * *

Foreshadows of an Inevitable Pain

* * *

Kyoshi watched from a safe corner of the room as another chair went flying through the air and crashed against the adjacent wall, sending a shower of splinters spewing across the floor. He turned his head back to face his comrades before whipping his head back around to watch another chair meet the same fate as the one before it.

Ryugi swallowed nervously and stood behind Ichiro, who picked up another piece of furniture, this time a small stool, and sent it to its immediate death on the far wall with the rest of the broken wood.

"The kame ruined everything! I am tired of being dishonored by having that THING fight alongside us."

Kyoshi stood with his arms crossed and tilted his head up towards his comrades through the shadows, voice even and mellow. "If memory serves me correctly, my brother, that _kame_ saved your life."

Ichiro immediately went rigid and turned towards Kyoshi.

Ryugi huffed and crossed his arms. "He did no such thing."

"Have you forgotten? Were it not for Leonardo, that shuriken would have killed Ichiro on impact. The kame blocked it; he saved him."

"And if it were not for the kame his brothers would not have been there and attempted to kill one of us!"

"We have had many encounters with them long before the kame joined us. What makes you so eager to believe we would not have done battle with them sooner or later anyway?"

"It matters not! Their interference and the kame's hesitation prevented us from completing our duty and retrieving the money."

"But we did retrieve the money the very next night," Kyoshi countered calmly. "The three of us. We even succeeded in teaching the Purple Dragon scum a valuable lesson of which they will not soon forget. So why is it that you are angry?"

"I am angry because—"

"Besides the obvious answer to that question," Ichiro interrupted. "I pose another one to you, my brother." He glared accusingly at Kyoshi.

Kyoshi mentally squirmed under his gaze, but managed to keep a blank face and nodded in acceptance. "Ask of me what you will."

"Tell me, Kyoshi. Why is it that you now call the kame by its _name_?"

He felt his breath hitch as a chill ran down his back. Kyoshi blinked and uncrossed his arms in surprise. "What?"

Ichiro hardened his glare. "Like Kisho, you have begun to call the kame by 'Leonardo.' That is his name, is it not?"

Kyoshi swallowed at the realization of the fact that he _had_ used Leonardo's name at the beginning of the conversation. He was at a loss for words, not having any idea of how to defend himself against an accusation that was true.

"Have you too changed sides?" Ichiro continued.

"Kisho has not changed sides," Kyoshi quickly corrected. "He merely looks at Le— the _kame_ as one of us. He has fought alongside us for almost a month now and has saved yours and Kisho's lives. I do not see how that is changing sides, my brother."

Ryugi glared. "You dare speak to us so dishonorably, Kyoshi?"

Kyoshi looked at Ryugi pleadingly. "I meant no disrespect, Ryugi. I only speak fact. The kame has done nothing that should threaten us."

Ichiro growled and clenched his fists. "The mere fact that he follows with us is dishonorable enough. The disdain I hold for our '_master_' grows more and more each day that she forces us to fight with… that _creature_. I am tired of having my honor threatened by fighting with a former enemy. A former enemy who is also a sin against nature." Ichiro stopped and glared at the floor. "And a I shall not stand by and allow it to take place a moment longer," he softly added.

Kyoshi blinked and tilted his head at Ichiro questioningly. "My brother?"

Ichiro and Ryugi shared a nod with one another and Ryugi turned back to Kyoshi. "We have decided to eliminate the kame from the equation."

Kyoshi's eyes widened.

Ryugi smirked. "You have a problem with such an action, Kyoshi?"

Kyoshi swallowed and attempted to mask his surprise with a shake of his head. "No, but will Karai not be angry? If she finds out she could have us all killed."

"She will not find out. We will make it appear as if the gangs are responsible. It will be easy enough to achieve." Ryugi looked at Ichiro and turned back to Kyoshi. "You must not share this information with Kisho." When he received a questioning glance from Kyoshi, he continued. "Kisho has grown far too close to the kame. It is for his own good. If he warns the kame, Kisho could be accused of treason. I do not wish to slay him."

Kyoshi briefly glanced at the door, turned to Ryugi and silently urged him to continue.

Ryugi stared Kyoshi directly in the eye as he explained. "We will go out for one of our nightly patrols. We have been ordered to take care of another band of Purple Dragons that have refused to pay Mistress Karai. After we dispose of them, we will split up to scout the area. During this time, Ichiro and I will use the modified Triceraton blasters that we acquired from one of the Purple Dragons' shipments and slay the kame. It will appear as if the Purple Dragons did the deed based on the wound marks. Ichiro and I will then abandon the blasters near the group's base and return to our meeting point with you and Kisho. Upon arriving and realizing that the kame is not among us, we will search for him. When we find his body, he will be long past dead. No one shall ever know."

"It appears as if you have thought this through," Kyoshi answered, straight-faced and seemingly un-phased by his comrades' suggestion.

Ichiro nodded. "The plan is infallible. Can we count on you to keep Kisho away long enough for Ryugi and I to dispose of the kame?"

Kyoshi bowed his head in submission. "Yes, of course, my brother. Tell me, when is it that you plan on fulfilling your mission?"

"Next week. The Purple Dragons have their annual meeting at the south dock in Manhattan. We shall complete our task there at midnight on the 6th day."

Kyoshi bowed his head again. "As you wish, Ichiro. If you will excuse me, I have yet to complete my training session for this evening." With one final bow, he backed out of the room and closed the door.

Ichiro and Ryugi watched the door warily. Ryugi glanced at Ichiro as he stood by his side. "Do you believe he can be trusted? He and Kisho are very close."

Ichiro hesitated. "He is the youngest, and thereby holds the position of the younger brother of our clan. He looks up to us. He will _not_ betray us."

Ryugi nodded and looked back at the door. "Never would I have dreamed things would become so complicated among us."

"All the more reason for us to eliminate the kame quickly. He has caused dissension among our group. Because of him, we are beginning to divide." Ichiro turned to face Ryugi. "We must stop such a thing from happening before it goes any further."

Ryugi nodded in agreement. "Soon our troubles will be over. Once we are done with the kame and have restored order among us, we will begin our plans against Mistress Karai."

Ichiro smiled maliciously. "The moment shall not come soon enough."

* * *

"My son?"

Donatello heard the voice echo through his mind. His eyes were so heavy and his head felt like it weighed at least forty pounds.

"My son."

Again the voice broke through his consciousness. He groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes. He could feel something on his arm and attempted to blink away the blurred images that sleep left behind. After a few minutes of yawning and repeated blinking, he recognized the furry paw that was on his right forearm.

"Master Splinter!" Don shot up out of his chair in surprise, knocking off all the paperwork on his desk in the process. He instinctively stood up straight with wide eyes, fully alert, before confusion graced his features.

Splinter chuckled. "I am sorry, my son. I did not mean to startle you."

Don sighed in relief and relaxed, giving his master a small smile. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I…" He groaned and tilted his head back. "Ah, shell." He rubbed two hands over his face. "I fell asleep!"

"Do not worry, my son. You needed your rest. You have barely had a moment's worth of it since Leonardo's disappearance."

Don looked back at his master and smiled sadly. "I haven't seen you around much, Sensei."

"Yes, and I am sorry for that, Donatello. But I believe my efforts have finally gained the benefit of our many doubts."

Don blinked. "Master Splinter?"

"Although I have not identified the exact source of our problems, I have learned a few things. Gather your brothers and meet me in my room."

"Um, well, Mikey is topside looking for clues."

"No I'm not." Mikey poked his head through the door. "I've been back for over an hour, bro, just didn't wanna wake you."

Don blinked at Mikey and chuckled softly, then turned back to Splinter and gave him a small bow. "Yes, Sensei."

With a brief nod, Splinter left Don's lab and retreated to his room to wait for his sons.

Don looked at Mikey as their father disappeared. "You should have woken me up," he mumbled as he headed for the door.

Mikey shook his head. "Nah, you looked almost as tired as Raph was." He followed his brother out and paused at Raph's door. "You didn't wake him up?"

Don stopped at Raph's door and raised his left eye ridge at Mikey.

Mikey nodded. "He said just a nap. He wanted you to wake him up."

"I've been asleep, remember?" Don sighed. "And I know I should have, but I've never seen Raph that worn down. He's not much of a napper; he usually wakes up within the first hour. If he didn't wake up at all, then chances are he really needed the rest."

Mikey nodded. "Guess you've got a point. Well, I'm gonna go back and sit with Master Splinter."

"You don't want to help me wake him? Usually you jump at the opportunity."

"I do a lot of cuckoo things but I'm not crazy, Don. Like you've said, I've woken Raph up before… a lot, and I'm just... not in the mood today!" He said with a grin. Before Don had a chance to retaliate, his younger brother turned and ran towards Splinter's room. "Word of advice! Keep at least a ten-foot distance and I'd suggest poking him with your bo! He lashes out!"

Don stared after Mikey. "Thanks… for the advice." Don chuckled softly and shook his head. With a deep breath, he peeked into Raph's room.

"Hey, Raph?" When he didn't receive an answer, he carefully stepped into the dark room and left the door cracked to allow some light in. "Raph?"

Raph groaned and turned over in his hammock.

Don sighed and stepped beside the hammock. "You really would punch me wouldn't you? Hmmm." He nervously glanced at the sai that his brother kept next to the hammock. Quietly, he pushed them far from Raph's reach. Then, taking Mikey's advice, he stood a good distance away from his sleeping brother, took out his bo staff and gently prodded his brother's arm with it.

Raph swiped at it, rolled over again onto his plastron and buried his head in his arms.

"Come on, Raph." He gently poked him again. Upon receiving no response, he sighed. "Geez, you're worse than Mikey." He poked him in the side with his bo staff, more roughly this time and yelped when Raph snatched the bo staff, jerked it from his hands and threw it across the room.

Don put his fists on his hips and glared at Raph. "I just made that one after my other one got sliced in half and it's already catching abuse." He sighed and decided a different approach. In a panicked voice, he screamed. "Raph! Mikey crashed the shell cycle!"

Raph's eyelids flew open and he jumped out of his hammock. "What?! I'll throttle him! Where is he?!"

Don held his hands up and backed away. "Whoa, calm down, Raph. Mikey's fine."

"What about the shell cycle?! Is she banged up?! Can you fix her?! Gah, I'LL—"

Don chuckled and quickly attempted to swallow his amusement. "The shell cycle's fine."

Raph blinked in confusion and looked around. "Huh? But you… wait a minute…"

"Sorry, you've got to admit that you're a heavy sleeper."

Raph let out a long sigh. "DON'T ever do that again." Don smiled sadly in response. With another deep breath, Raph looked up at his brother. "What time is it?"

"You know… I don't even know to be honest. I nodded off at my desk."

"Have I been asleep all day?"

"Heh, yeah."

"Don," Raph stretched and groaned. "I told ya ta wake me up."

"I know." He half smiled. "But aren't you glad I didn't?"

Raph blinked and hesitated. After staring at his brother for the entirety of two minutes, he half smiled and grunted. "Heh, yeah. I feel a lot betta now. So, what's up?"

"Master Splinter wants to talk with us."

"He came out of meditation?" When Don nodded, Raph immediately bolted from his spot and ran out the door. "Why didn't ya say so?"

"Hey!" Don quickly ran after his brother. He failed to notice, however, when Raph suddenly slid to a stop and ended up plowing right into him. Raph grunted when he smacked into the floor, Don landing square on top of him.

"Geez, Donnie," he coughed.

"Sorry!" Don quickly hopped off his brother and offered him a hand up.

Raph accepted the help and, once standing, rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Ain't I the one who's supposed ta be apologizin'?" Don tilted his head in confusion and Raph looked away, cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment. "You know I don't do the whole 'apologizing' thing very well but... I'm sorry. What I said the other day... after the warehouse fiasco... and with the way I've been actin' toward ya... well, I've been way outta line. You didn't deserve any of that and... well, if it would have been me, after I thought about it, I woulda done the same thing, you know? So... I'm sorry." When Raph didn't receive an answer, he looked back at Don, a hint of annoyance lacing his voice. "Yo, Don. This ain't exactly easy for me. I'm tryin' to apologi—"

"I know," Don smiled. "Thanks. And don't worry about it. We're all on edge."

Raph allowed the smallest of smiles to grace his features before he coughed and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Well, we should get to Sensei."

Don nodded and the two continued on their way. Mikey looked up from his place in front of Splinter as Raph and Don walked up, his concentration directed solely on Raph. The two stared at one another for a moment, Mikey's gaze nothing but apologetic and Raph's stern as usual. After a few moments, Raph nodded and Mikey smiled, content with the unspoken acceptance of his unheard apology to his brother. Without another moment's hesitation, Raph sat beside Mikey and Don sat next to Raph. From then on out, they gave their master their full attention.

Splinter watched each of them and smiled sadly. "I must first ask your forgiveness, my sons, for my presence has been needed here and I rarely gave it through your time of need."

All three turtles smiled sadly at their master and nodded their heads. Mikey grinned and gave his father a thumbs up. "It's ok, Sensei." He winked. "You've had a lot on your mind."

Don nodded. "We support each other no matter what. That's what you taught us to do, Sensei."

"That includes you, Master Splinter," Raph added.

Splinter chuckled at his sons' reassurances and nodded. "Thank you, my sons. Now, to the matter at hand. As you are well aware, I have been in constant meditation in the hopes of coming across anything that may be of use to us. I believe I may have discovered something."

Each turtle leaned forward in earnest. They had been waiting what seemed like a lifetime for a break like this.

Splinter continued. "As you are also aware, I have not been able to establish contact with Leonardo. However, I have discovered why. Your brother has not fallen down the wrong path. He is indeed, as Donatello has suggested, being controlled. By whom or what, I cannot make certain, but it feels familiar."

The three brothers looked at one another and back at Splinter. Raphael voiced the question that all of them were silently asking. "Familiar?"

"Yes. It is not by any device of this world, however. Something that is powerful enough to block his mind has made an attempt to erase all memory of us and convince him that we are the enemy. He actually does believe that his allegiance is to Karai. His mind has been thwarted to believe that we are his true enemy, and that he must destroy us." Splinter hesitated. "And, as long as his mind believes that, he will stop at nothing until he does just that."

The turtles' eyes widened. Mikey bit his lip nervously. "But, I thought Leo had that whole 'mind-body' thing going on. I mean, he's good at that stuff. How come he can't break free? We've all learned how to do stuff like that."

Splinter sighed sadly. "Yes, you are right, my son. However, your brother is being influenced by a source far more powerful than we are used to dealing with."

Don frowned. "But I thought you said it was familiar?"

"It is, yes. I feel as if we have encountered such an enemy before, but for some reason, the actual source eludes me. I believe it may possibly be more than one being controlling him. Perhaps they are all working together in order to increase their abilities. When I encountered the block to Leonardo's mind, it was, by far, the strongest sense of sorcery that I have ever encountered. It will be nearly impossible to break it. Even someone such as myself would have great difficulty breaking such a bond, if I could at all."

The brothers froze.

"B-but!" Mikey stuttered. "If… if you don't even think you can do it, how is Leo?!"

Don held his hands out pleadingly. "There's got to be a way to break it! You helped me back on the Triceraton ship! There's got to be something!"

Raph clenched his fists. "I'll rip Karai apart with my bare hands! There's gotta be a way to break it!"

"My sons!"

Each of the turtles fell quiet at their father's commanding tone and looked down. Splinter sighed and spoke in a more soothing voice. "My sons. Try to remain calm. I said 'nearly impossible,' not '_impossible_.' We will devise a way to get your brother back, of that, I can assure you. As you say, there must be a way. It will be difficult, but remember that nothing is truly impossible."

Don stared at the floor thoughtfully and looked back up. "He… did try and protect me." After he had acquired everyone's confused and surprised stares, he continued. "Back at the warehouses. When the Purple Dragons started shooting, he jumped on top of me and shielded me with his own body. He looked surprised that he did it, but he didn't move until that Elite got trapped in that burning building."

Splinter perked his ears up at this new information. "Did anything else occur, Donatello?"

Don bit his lip and tried to remember. "He… he had a weird, blank look on his face when… when Mikey almost got his head whacked open."

Mikey winced. "Thanks for the visual, braniac."

Don ignored Mikey and continued. "For some reason, he almost looked like he was going to try and save him, but his face just went totally blank. Then… wait, before that… before that he had his katana at my neck. Then I… I cried… and he stopped."

Raph and Mikey looked at each other, seemingly uplifted by Donatello's experience while Splinter watched Donatello carefully. After a moment's silence, he spoke again.

"It appears that his mind may be stronger than we thought. If all of this happened, if he was able to recognize you for even the briefest of moments, there is more hope than we thought. The trick now will be determining what the best course of action is in order to trigger those memories. Upon reaching a certain point, I believe your brother is capable of breaking free of this control, though it will be very difficult. We still must be cautious around him. Keep in mind that he may still attack any one of us, and we must be prepared to handle such an event if it arises."

Raph mulled everything over and looked at Splinter questioningly. "So, whadda we do now, Sensei?"

"Donatello, am I accurate in saying that you have copies of Foot Headquarters?"

Don blinked at Splinter. "Huh? Copies? Oh! Yes, Sensei. I have detailed blueprints of the entire building. A little more research… a lot more research and I might be able to configure which room Leo's in. Even if that's not a possibility, I'll at least be able to tell which floor he's on and we can move from there."

"If we do in fact enter the building, is there a certain method we should go about in order to get back out?"

Don shook his head sadly. "I don't know enough about the building yet, Sensei. I mean, there are plenty of entry and exit points, but the problem is we don't know how well equipped the Foot are. If we make a detailed plan to get out through one exit, and the Foot expect it, might as well just call us turtles flambé."

"With a side order of rat," Mikey added, holding a knowledgeable finger in the air. The action earned him a smack in the head from his brother. "Ow, Raph!"

Splinter nodded and stood up. "Very well. We will continue to search for entryways and exits through the building. Perhaps we can concoct one general plan that will assist us in getting out. Donatello, if you have the need for any assistance, do not hesitate to inform your brothers or myself. As for the rest of us, while Donatello is developing his plans, the three of us will continue to assist him in any way we can. Aside from that, use your heads and think hard about any method possible in order to jar your brother's memory, whether it is a childhood memory or even some type of memorabilia that is special to him that he would recognize. Donatello has proven that it is possible. Now we must take it one step further and devise a way to make the change in his personality permanent once again."

Raph, Don and Mikey all stood and bowed to their master. Donatello immediately ran back to his lab with Raph and Mikey hot on his heels. Splinter watched his sons go with a small smile and closed the door after they were gone. With a heavy sigh, he returned to his meditation mat and lit the candles surrounding it. He closed his eyes in concentration and exhaled slowly. _Danger is coming. I do not know the cause of it, but I can sense it. Something we do not expect. A dark deed will soon be carried out that will be irreversible. Time is running out. It will happen soon. My sons, please take caution. Something is terribly wrong, and I fear this is one matter which we may not be able to prevent from happening. An unavoidable tragedy perhaps. It will soon come to pass. Now it is in fate's hands._

(TBC)


End file.
